The Timeline Orphans, Volume 2: Past Tense
by Kinomi
Summary: Mirai Trunks and Marron have inadvertantly ended up in the past - but is it either of theirs? Or another all together? Please Review.
1. When the hell are we?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: For those just joining us a recap: Ten years after defeating Cell, Mirai Trunks went back to the past where he met and fell in love with Marron, much to the displeasure of his Chibi self. When Mirai Trunks felt it was best he left – Marron decided to join him, but a little mishap with the Time Machine has left them in past. Of course if you want more detail, you'll just have to read Vol. 1 (shameless plug over). And yes, I know it's a lame title….sigh.

Now on to the story…

**The Timeline Orphans**

Volume II: Past Tense

The boy knew better than to be out alone in the daylight, going out in the daylight could get you killed if one of _Them_ happened to find you. His Niichan had warned him over and over. It had happened to his Okaasan when she had tried to defy them; the big scary one had twisted his Okaasan's neck until it made a nasty sound then threw her away like she was a soiled rag.

The boy picked his way cautiously over a fallen portion of a building moving silently and warily, listening for any sign he wasn't completely alone. He should probably head back to the hideout before Sensei and Niichan came back, he didn't want to get into trouble, but it seemed he could never help it. Still, he didn't want to risk his Sensei's wrath if he didn't do as he was told, that would mean even more training and the amount he was receiving now often pushed the five year old past the limits of his endurance, but he never complained...Sensei wouldn't allow it, not from him and not from his Niichan either.

He often heard Niichan arguing with Sensei when they thought he was asleep, Niichan wanted to attack _Them _head on, but Sensei always told Niichan there were too many and the warriors that remained too few. That always made the boy sad to be reminded of how those who were important in his life had been taken from him; His Otousan before he was born, his Okaasan, all of his friends…and most recently his mentor, a man who raised him like his own son. Now there was only Niichan and Sensei to take care of him unless they sent him to live at the Lookout, which the boy had heard them discuss before.

The boy heard a strange noise and tilted his head trying to determine where it was coming from. It had a high-pitched whine to it and the boy looked up into the sky hoping against hope it wasn't one of _Them. _ Not that he would know them if he saw them. Sensei and Niichan did their best to protect the boy from the horrors of the world. When he looked in the sky his mouth became a perfect 'O' as what he saw defied his five-year-old mind's logic. It was a spaceship, a golden spaceship with a clear domed top and spindly legs that was descending from the sky toward the ruins of Capsule Corp. It dropped below his line of vision behind some partially destroyed buildings, and the boy scrambled down from the rubble and ran toward the partially demolished dome, momentarily abandoning caution in favor of the boundless curiosity that is the hallmark of little boys everywhere to get a better look.

Peeking around the pile of concrete chunks he was hiding behind -he was curious not _stupid_- he watched as the crystal clear dome opened. He wondered what these aliens would look like…_they couldn't be any weirder looking than Dende-sama, _he thought to himself, so he was mildly disappointed when he saw they looked like regular people. There were two of them; a woman with long golden hair and a man with the strangest colored hair the boy had ever seen, it was a light purple, and the boy had only seen that color hair on one other person in his life. As he watched the man immediately exploded a capsule and strapped something onto his back. The woman flew back up into the space ship a moment later and climbed in, the boy couldn't see her face from where he was hiding but he could see the man's and whatever the woman told him made him look MAD.

The boy pulled back when he saw the purple haired stranger turn in his direction. When he dared look again the woman had rejoined him on the ground. The purple-haired man pushed a button on the spaceship and it disappeared into a capsule that he put in the pocket of his green jacket. He watched curiously as the purple-haired man took the woman's hand and they went into the ruins of the golden dome.

Niichan and Sensei would definitely want to know about the strangers in the spaceship. He would get into trouble now for sure for sneaking out, but even at five he knew this was more important. He waited until the strangers were certainly all the way inside and wouldn't see him, and then Son Goten ran home as fast as his little legs would carry him.

* * *

"_What the hell…" _Trunks breathed when he got a good look at his surroundings after opening the dome of the capsule. It was like waking up in the middle of a nightmare; regressing fifteen years in a single instant. He gazed mutely at the ruins of Capsule Corporation as he felt his stomach clench. He instantly knew he was in the past because of the size of the tree that lay broken and leaning against the caved in dome. That tree was the one outside his own bedroom window in his time and it was easily twice the size of the one he saw. Numbly he followed Marron as she jumped to the ground lightly.

"No Trunks…_WHEN_ the hell are we?" she said softly, her hands on her slender hips as she surveyed the area with a critical eye. "I assume we're in the past – none of this destruction looks too recent, but it doesn't look that old either," she observed, turning her head sharply at a small explosion just in time to see Trunks strapping his sword onto his back, his expression fierce as he scanned the area with his piercing blue eyes. Marron's heart wrenched for him, if they had indeed returned to the time of the Jinzouningen's reign, then her lover could have to relive some very painful memories, and he'd had more than his share in life already. Marron flew back up into the cockpit to get a reading from the controls and see if she could find out what, if anything had malfunctioned.

Everything looked in order as far as the wiring went as Marron checked the connections to the controls. She frowned; Trunks couldn't have accidentally set the controls for the past instead of the future could he? She was closing up the control panel when something shiny on the floor caught her eye. She got down on the floor and there half hidden in the shadows was a delicate silver chain with tiny silver stars. Marron bared her teeth in annoyance as she plucked the silver anklet up and fisted her hand around it.

"Idiots! If I ever see them again I'll garrote them with this goddamn thing!" she snapped as she stood up. She could see Trunks down below looking off toward some nearby rubble, his expression as intent as a hawk.

"What is it?" he called up to her. Marron jumped down and handed him the anklet still scowling. At his questioning look she sighed trying to think of a delicate way to voice her suspicion.

"It's Bra's…I gave it to her for her birthday last year. There's nothing mechanically wrong with the time capsule that I can see from the cursory inspection I just gave it – so it has to be…_human_ error. If Bra was in the capsule then it's a pretty safe presumption that Goten was with her. They have an…uh…_predilection_ for…um-unconventional places to…you know. The settings could have been tampered with under those kinds of uh…circumstances." Marron finished lamely with a few vague hand gestures.

Marron tried not to outwardly cringe at Trunks' expression as his brows furrowed in anger.

"The good news is that there isn't-cross your fingers-anything functionally wrong with the capsule other than the fact that it's nearly drained. So that means we can leave if we can get it charged and reset for your time," Marron told him cheerfully.

"First things first, we need to find out when we are…if this is my past or another completely," Trunks said quietly and pushed the buttons on the side of the Time Machine and encapsulated it, tucking the container into his pocket. "Let's go check in here first."

Trunks took her hand and lightly pulled her after him into the ruin of the dome and immediately once he was out of sight pulled Marron around behind him and faded into the shadows to watch the area he'd been staring at earlier.

"Sense something?" Marron murmured backing farther into the shadows so she could see outside as well.

"Hai, not very strong but I felt like we were being watched," Trunks whispered. They didn't have to wait long before they saw movement as the young boy scurried from his hiding place back into the rubble of some nearby ruins and disappeared. Marron could only see the back of his head and a glimpse of a dark blue gi.

"I know that hair…Goten-kun had hair like that when he was a little boy. Could that be a Son?" Marron asked Trunks. "What do you want to do?"

"Follow him," Trunks said and started to move toward the opening and back into the light.

"What about in here? Shouldn't we search and see if there's anyone here? What about the lab?" Marron asked him. "We should check and see if any equipment is salvageable if we're going to get that Capsule recharged."

"There is no one here," Trunks said in an oddly flat voice.

"I'm so sorry," Marron murmured. Trunks reached out and caught her hand and squeezed it lightly in thanks. "Maybe I should check for the lab then while you follow him, ne?"

"I don't think we should split up until we know what's going on," Trunks said still looking out in the direction the boy had gone, tracking his ki.

"I'll be fine…takes a lot to hurt me remember. You go, I'll be ten, maybe fifteen minutes behind you," she told him pushing him lightly toward where the boy had disappeared. Trunks turned and faced her a moment his hands on her shoulders.

"Be cautious…if this time is anything like what I grew up in then it's very dangerous. Keep your ki down and fly low…" he said seriously as Marron nodded. "If you haven't shown up in half an hour I'm coming back to find you."

"Go…or you'll lose him. He's little so he can't have come too far," Marron said pushing him again. He looked deeply into her eyes and gave her a quick hard kiss before he turned and ran off.

Marron touched her lips a moment as she watched him move quickly and silently off after the boy. He was acting like he'd never see her again if he let her out of his sight, and then she remembered that in his awful past any time could be the last time. She caught a last glimpse of his pale lavender hair and green jacket as he vaulted a wall and disappeared from view.

"You be careful too," she whispered before turning to go look for Bulma's lab.

* * *

Trunks caught up to the boy quickly. Marron was right about one thing, the boy was small and couldn't move as fast as one full grown demi-Saiyajin jacked up on adrenaline. Suppressing his ki he followed the boy discreetly, there was no sense barging into wherever the boy was headed since he couldn't be assured of the reception. He watched as the boy disappeared into a partially collapsed building and figured this must be where he lived when he didn't see him reappear.

He straightened from where he was crouched behind a partially collapsed wall and walked out into the open area in front of the building. Rather than barge into a situation he wasn't fully aware of, Trunks decided to let them come to him. Slowly, he let his power increase, knowing it would draw whatever Z Warriors remained like a homing beacon. He didn't have to wait long before two figures emerged from the crumpled building; a dark haired boy of about fifteen, and a short bald monk whose distinctive nose-less visage Trunks would know anywhere. Still wary he waited to see if they recognized him.

The boy Trunks had followed peeked out from behind the older boy's leg, looking at Trunks owlishly. Seeing his face Trunks was astounded by how much he reminded him of Gokou. "That's him! One of the ones in the spaceship Gohan-niichan," the boy whispered loudly.

Gohan nodded at the boy and looked at Trunks closely. Kuririn was also examining him with hawk like eyes.

"I remember you. You're the one who came and warned Otousan about the Jinzouningen, aren't you?" Gohan asked him. Trunks was getting a sinking suspicion.

"Hai," Trunks acknowledged.

"Why have you come back a second time?" Kuririn spoke up, and not very warmly either as he eyed Trunks with more than a little animosity and suspicion.

Trunks tried not to look shocked. Second time? He had come back a second time to help them fight the androids, had fought along side Kuririn and Gohan both. Did they not remember him – or could it be that he was in an alternate past?

"Do you know my name?" Trunks asked them. He wasn't sure where to start to get the information that he wanted, how did this past differentiate from the one he had just left? Gohan shook his head.

"You never told us your name. You just took care of Furiza, talked to Otousan and left. But you're Trunks aren't you? The hair's a dead giveaway," Gohan said. Goten was tugging on his brother's pant leg.

"Niichan…there were two of them," he said. Trunks held up his hands in a supplicating gesture.

"Forgive me, I'm not here to cause trouble…" he said to the second group of people he'd visited – maybe he should just have cards made up, and save his breath. Kuririn looked around, noticing he was alone.

"No, I'm sure you're not. And you did help us out last time – but if we're going to have a reunion and play catch up we should do it elsewhere. It's not safe around here," the shorter man said with a pointed look to Goten, who had the good sense to look chagrined.

"Before we do I would prefer we wait for Marron to join us. Otherwise she won't be able to find us," Trunks said politely. Kuririn gave him the strangest expression at Marron's name.

"Who is Marron?" Gohan asked, completely forgetting Kuririn's old girlfriend by the same name, as the little monk's face fell. Trunks shifted nervously, how to explain Marron…

"She's my…" he started when he sensed Marron approaching. He turned to watch her approach, flying low just as he'd told her. She landed lightly a few feet away looking as beautiful to him as a beam of sunshine in her jeans, black scoop neck top, and faded short blue CC jacket. She tucked a strand of long white-gold hair behind her ear and gave him a hint of a smile.

"I'm here," she told him, and turned to look at the others curiously. Trunks shifted his gaze back to them as well and his eyes widened in alarm. Gohan and Kuririn were both powering up tremendously, Gohan shoving his younger brother behind him. Kuririn bared his teeth as he drew his arm back, a ball of ki flattening in his palm. Trunks leapt toward the smaller man.

"Kuririn! _Wait_!"

"JINZOUNINGEN! _SHIII-NEEE!_" Kuririn thundered with rage and let the Keinzan go before Trunks could stop him.

"Oh not again…" he heard Marron mutter.


	2. Photographic evidence

Marron's eyes widened in dismay as she saw the Kienzan come slicing through the air straight for her head. There was no time to wonder why Kuririn thought she was Juuhachi-gou, or why that would be a bad thing, it was just move it or lose it. And she had no intentions of losing it. She wasn't too worried yet; her mother had thrown these at her plenty of times, but never one this strong. _This_ Kienzan was intended to neatly separate her head from her shoulders.

She waited until the first tingling of energy approached her senses; ignoring Trunks' panicked shouts, and used her one advantage of speed. She dropped under the Kienzan and brought the heel of her hand up sharply onto the flat portion of the energy disk, deflecting it harmlessly away into the air, just like her mother taught her. She was back on her feet in an instant, hands fisted and raised in a ready posture.

"Kuririn! Stop! This is Marron! She's not a Jinzouningen!" Trunks yelled at the smaller man, putting himself between them and blocking the path of attack, his arms held out to the sides. Kuririn looked unconvinced, but didn't attack again, just glared balefully over Trunks' shoulder at Marron. Marron felt like someone had kicked her in the chest to see her father -or at least this time's version of her father- looking at her with such malice.

"Niichan! She's the other one from the spaceship," Goten told his big brother with another tug to the pant leg.

"Not a Jinzouningen? But she looks just like that Jinzouningen Juuhachi-gou," Gohan questioned, eyeing Marron warily, but he at least powered down. "How come?"

Trunks lowered his arms hesitating a moment. Marron sidled up behind him until she was nearly against him.

"You can tell them about me…but be careful of what you say about yourself until we can talk privately, my love_,_" Marron murmured quietly. Trunks turned his head to the side with a frown and saw her nod slightly. Marron stepped out from behind him and stood at his side, her eyes never leaving Kuririn's. Trunks sighed quietly.

"Because she's Juuhachi-gou's daughter," he said bluntly. There was no real delicate way to ease into it, the fact was standing right next to him…no sense sugar-coating it.

"WHAT?" Gohan and Kuririn chorused loudly. Little Goten grinned at her from behind Gohan's leg, and Marron smiled back at him. Trunks forged on ahead.

"-And Kuririn's. From an alternate world." Kuririn gaped at her, mouth open in shock.

"No way! Alternate world? She's not from the future, like you?" Gohan asked scratching the back of his head.

"Eh…no. She's from the future, but not this future – and not the future I came from," Trunks said sweat dropping a little at the lost expression on Gohan's face.

"Lies!… It can't be," Kuririn said as he approached Marron cautiously. "First of all, that _thing _is Jinzouningen! An Android! How can an Android have kids? And second, there's just no way! Me and, and…_her_…IT! After what she's done?" Kuririn's hands were fisted as he shook his head and glared at Marron again. "It has to be a trick!"

Without saying a word, Marron reached in the pocket of her blue CC jacket and pulled out the capsule containing her prized possessions from the lab. She thumbed the trigger and tossed it on the ground in front of her, allowing it to explode into a large chest like container. She rummaged in it a moment and pulled out a picture frame, then held it out to Kuririn. Trunks recognized it as the photo she'd had on her desk in the lab.

"Go on…look at it," she said quietly. Kuririn took the picture and studied it carefully, Gohan hanging over his shoulder to see. Trunks didn't need to look; he knew which picture it was. Kuririn holding an adorable three-year-old Marron on his shoulders, with a smiling Juuhachi-gou standing behind them holding Marron's hands in the air.

"Is that really you? You didn't have a nose! Look Kuririn! You have hair!" Gohan laughed. Kuririn silently handed the picture back to Marron. She put it back in her container and re-encapsulated it, returning it to her pocket. Kuririn shifted uneasily, one hand behind his head. Marron's face softened imperceptibly, now he was looking more like her Otousan.

"Heh heh, I guess you must be who you claim to be…sorry about the whole…trying to kill you thing," Kuririn said nervously. "It's just you look just like…and she's well…" he stammered. Marron folded her arms and looked away.

"Don't worry about it," she said stiffly. Trunks jumped in to cover the awkward moment, asking about the other Z-Warriors. Kuririn shook his head when he told them they were nearly wiped out.

"Why? How? What happened differently?" Trunks questioned, more to himself than the others.

"Different than what?" Kuririn asked. Trunks glanced at Marron before addressing the other two warriors.

"I'll be happy to tell you what I know, but perhaps we should get everyone together at once, ne?" Trunks said. Kuririn nodded wisely.

"Good idea, do you want to come with us to get them?" Kuririn asked. Trunks shook his head, suggesting they meet up later.

"Meet us at the Tenka then. And watch out for the Jinzouningen, they're killers," Kuririn said unthinkingly. Gohan picked his little brother up and lifted into the air. Trunks smirked.

"I can handle a couple of Androids," he said confidently, missing Marron's wince. Gohan paused, hovering over them.

"It's not a 'couple'…there's five of them."

* * *

Marron was silent as she flew westward beside Trunks toward Karin's tower and the Tenka. She hadn't said a word in the last thirty minutes since they had parted ways from Kuririn, Gohan and Goten. Trunks glanced over at her, her face was expressionless, but her eyes were overly bright. He flew closer to her and bumped her lightly with his shoulder, but she didn't even look over. With a sigh, he took her hand and pulled her after him as he landed atop a mesa. Her face was closed and she wouldn't look at him as he took her in his arms, she just stood there stiffly.

"Are you all right?" he murmured into her hair, as he stroked her back. She gave a harsh bark of laughter.

"I'm terrific, Trunks…so far today I nearly got into a fist-fight with my ex-boyfriend over you, dragged to this garden spot in time thanks to a couple of hormonally deranged demi-Saiyajin, my father just tried to _kill_ me, and it appears my mother and uncle are trying to destroy the human race…AGAIN. Did I leave anything out?" she asked bitterly.

"I asked you to marry me…" he offered quietly, holding her tighter. She tucked her head under his chin and at last put her arms around him too, pressing her face against his shirt.

"Is that what that was? I wasn't sure," she mumbled. He tipped her face up to his with a finger under her chin, inclining his face to hers for a soft kiss.

"I love you Marron, I want to marry you," he told her. Marron gave him a weak smile and laid her hand on his cheek.

"I love you too, Trunks," she said softly and lowered her eyes. Trunks frowned, waiting for her to continue, but she said nothing, just leaned against him quietly.

"But_?" _he prompted. She raised her face to his again. Her eyes twin pools of confusion and misery.

"But what?" she asked in confusion, and then noticed his scowl. "You want an answer…_now_?" her tone was incredulous. "I can't even think about that right now, Trunks."

She stepped away from him and fisted her hands in her hair. "Don't you see? My world is coming apart! In my time my parents are gone, and here from the sound of it, my Kaasan and Ojisan are as bad as they ever were in your world. But they're still my FAMILY. Juuhachi-gou and Juunana-gou are the only family I have left! When I hear you talk about them like cold calculating killing machines… You of all people should understand how I feel, your father's no saint," she nearly spat. Trunks put his hands in his pockets and studied the ground a moment.

"No, he isn't…but Marron it's not the same as…" he started. Marron's eyes narrowed.

"Don't even start on semantics with me. I know the Jinzouningen have done horrible, awful things in your time, and in this one too it would seem. But she's still my _mother,_ Trunks."

"And she'll still have to be stopped, if she and her twin are rampaging the planet in this time they'll have to be destroyed. There's no other way," Trunks told her uncompromisingly. Marron whirled on him, teeth bared and tears on her cheeks.

"I get it! How can you think I don't understand this? It's making me sick inside to even think about it!" she snapped and dashed the tears off her cheeks. "So you'll forgive me if I just can't give you an answer about getting married right this mi-mi-minute!" Marron hitched out before dissolving into tears, covering her face with her hands. Trunks took her back into his arms and let her cry on his shirt, he had been a little insensitive with regards to her feelings about the Jinzouningen, but she was going to have to face up to the hard reality sooner or later. All he could hope for was that if he had to be the one to destroy them again, Marron wouldn't be there.

"It's okay. I'm sorry Marron. I can't imagine how hard this must be for you," he murmured, as he stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head when her tears had trailed off to sniffles. "But Juuhachi-gou and Juunana-gou aren't the only family you have left, you have me. I won't let anything bad happen to you, Marron, I promised I'd take care of you," Trunks said. Marron looked up at him, eyes red.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," she said flatly. Trunks held the back of her head in his hand and kissed her fiercely, as if he could drive away the doubt in her eyes with his own conviction.

"I love you, Marron…don't let this drive a wedge between us. I'll make this right somehow," he said urgently. Marron slid her eyes away unconvinced, but she wasn't going to argue further. So long as his prime objective was the unwavering belief that the total destruction of the Jinzouningen was the only course of action, the wedge was already there.

"Mmmm," she murmured vaguely, "perhaps it won't come to that. Besides, you have other problems to worry about," she said deftly changing the subject. "I came to find you so quickly because of something I saw in the Capsule Dome ruins, something that may affect your actions in this world."

Marron took a deep breath and reached into the pocket of her jacket to pull out the two photographs she'd found, sitting in their broken frames and forgotten. For the second time that day photographs were the proof of what someone didn't want to believe. Trunks looked at the pictures and then at her.

"Bulma-kaasan…and…" he stammered. Marron nodded.

"From the looks of these pictures, Bulma married Yamucha…not Vegeta. Which _may_ mean the Chibi Trunks of this time isn't part Saiyajin at all."


	3. Pow-Wow at the Tenka (pt. 1)

The immaculate white tiled courtyard of the Tenka sparkled in the sun as preparations were made for Earth's remaining warriors to meet with the strange visitors from the future. Dende, the young God and his assistant Mr. Popo, were very gracious in welcoming Trunks and Marron, extending them every courtesy and comfort while they waited for the others to arrive.

Marron picked at the huge plate of food the sweet Mr. Popo had brought her; despite her assurance she wasn't the least bit hungry. Trunks on the other hand, was having a momentary lapse, eating with an abandon she hadn't seen in him before. If it weren't for the lavender hair she saw over the top of the bowl, she would swear it was Goten loudly stuffing his face across from her. She was too upset to eat, anxious about meeting the remaining warriors. Would they have the same reaction to her that Kuririn and Gohan had? And then there was her argument with Trunks, their first, if you wanted to start counting. She didn't want to fight with him, beyond the fact that he was her lover; he was her one ally in a strange and hostile time. But at the same time, she couldn't just lie down and say nothing when he spoke so matter of factly about destroying her mother and uncle. She idly pushed her chopsticks through the food on her plate as she thought, brow furrowed. She glanced up and met Trunks' eyes over the bowl of soup (his third by her last count) he was eating. He paused, putting the bowl down, his expression thoughtful.

"Please don't…I don't want to talk about them again right now," Marron told him firmly. Trunks smirked a bit.

"Think you know me so well already? I _was_ going to suggest you actually eat some of that. Who knows when we'll get another chance. You need to keep your strength up," Trunks said indicating her mostly untouched plate. Marron met his gaze defiantly for a long moment before taking a tiny bite of the food, then setting her chopsticks down when she was done and pushing the plate away.

"More than that," Trunks told her. She folded her arms; she had no idea why she was suddenly feeling so…stubborn. She loved Trunks with all her heart, but she couldn't just let him run roughshod over her. They were supposed to be a team, and take care of each other; she didn't want him to forget in his desire to protect her, that she was quite capable of taking care of herself.

Trunks' eyes gleamed a bit and he slid his chair around next to hers. Marron watched warily as he took her chopsticks and picked up a strip of meat from her plate and held it in front of her mouth. Marron scowled at him fiercely.

"I'm not hungry. And I certainly don't need to be fed like I was a child," she snapped at him. Trunks leaned close to her, the expression on his face pure Vegeta as he smirked at her.

"Then stop acting like one," he told her quietly. She opened her mouth in outrage to start yelling at him and he stuck the piece of meat into her mouth. She ate it so she wouldn't choke on it, still annoyed. "Good girl," he said silkily, and took another piece of food from her plate.

"Don't think you'll get away with that again," she told him darkly. Trunks shrugged and popped the food into his mouth instead, still smirking at her as he ate. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised at his behavior, she'd seen it all too often in his younger self when they had dated…being a manipulative son of a bitch was just in his blood, he couldn't help it.

He closed the distance between them and caught her lips in a kiss, his tongue gently opening her mouth to allow him entrance. She almost forgot all about being irritated with him, or being anxious about her reception, there was only him. His skill was unparalleled in grabbing her attention and keeping it.

She broke away when she felt his hand reaching into her jacket. She glanced around the room, but saw that Mr. Popo and Dende-sama had withdrawn, leaving them alone. Her eyes slid shut as he kissed her again, lips moving on to the soft skin under her jaw, one hand tracing up the opposite side of her neck to cup her face. Putting his thumb on her chin he pried open her mouth and popped another bite of food in.

"Jerk!…" she sputtered in exasperation, but he just smiled smugly at her, leaning back in his chair.

"Never pull the same trick twice," he told her, and started eating some of the fruit on her plate. She glowered at him, but he was just too irresistible to hold a grudge.

"_Baka._ Deny it all you want to, but you have moments when you are EXACTLY like your father, Trunks," she grumbled affectionately. Trunks just grinned and tossed one of the grapes he'd been eating at her.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Yamucha's not such a bad guy," Kuririn said as he joined them, followed by his two younger, and perpetually hungry, half-Saiyajin charges. With a nod of greeting Gohan sat down with them and started inhaling everything Trunks hadn't, while Kuririn and Goten tried to get their share. Goten was too little to see over the table top, so Marron picked him up and set him down in her lap.

"You can have mine," she told him, sliding her overloaded plate in front of him. Trunks turned a disapproving look her way for not eating more that she met with a silent challenge, eyebrow raised. He turned his attention back to Kuririn, ignoring the reference that his father was Bulma's husband.

"Is everyone here now?" Trunks asked. Kuririn shook his head, trying in vain to snag a gyoza or two before Gohan decimated the plate of them.

"Naw, but they'll be coming soon. Bulma and Yamucha went to Kame House to get everyone. Yajirobe and Karin should be here any time, we told 'em on the way up," Kuririn said.

"Who's all coming?" Marron asked Kuririn. Kuririn stared at Marron sitting there with Goten on her lap, mostly because the boy was for once displaying some table manners so Marron didn't get covered in flying bits of food.

"Bulma, Yamucha, Little Trunks, Karin, Yajirobe, Kame-sennin, Oolong, Puar, and Chaozu," Kuririn told them. Marron's eyes met Trunks' over Goten's head, and she could tell what he was thinking, that the strongest warriors that remained were he, Kuririn, Gohan, and probably Yamucha. Four of them against five Jinzouningen, Marron held his gaze, telling him without words not to count her out of any fight.

"What happened to Gokou, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, and Vegeta?" Trunks asked. Kuririn glanced at the two younger boys before answering.

"Gokou died when we fought Cell. Cell was a Jinzouningen creation of Dr.—" Trunks cut him off.

"I know who Cell was," Marron's eyes flicked up from where she had been watching Goten at Trunks' sharp tone. Trunks already had his jaw set as he encouraged Kuririn to continue.

"Then you know Cell had to absorb Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou to become perfect, ne? _Demo_, during the fight -the Cell Game, he called it- Gohan-kun knocked him a good one and he spit out one of the Jinzouningen," Kuririn told them between bites.

"Juuhachi-gou, right?" Trunks nodded. Kuririn shook his head as he reached for one of the steamed buns Mr. Popo had just brought them, smacking the back of Gohan's hand when he got in the way.

"Nope, it was Juunana-gou. Cell reverted to his imperfect form and was going to blow the whole kit and caboodle when Gokou Shuken Ido'd him to Kaio-sama's. We thought it was over…but he came back," Trunks was leaning forward hanging on every word the smaller man said now. He knew all too well what happened in the past time he had visited, Cell had killed him.

Goten had finished his meal and twisted his head up to look at Marron. He gave her a grin, his face covered in food. She couldn't help but smile back at him, despite the somber conversation going on next to her, as she wiped his face with a napkin. She thought he would get down off her lap now that her usefulness as a booster chair was over, but Goten just leaned back against her, his spiky black hair tickling her chin.

"Anyway, when Cell came back he was in his perfect form again. He blasted Piccolo before any of us knew what was happening. Lucky for us Piccolo was able to re-generate. Gohan-kun was ultimately able to defeat Cell, with Vegeta's help," Kuririn summarized. "We tried to wish Gokou back, but he didn't want to be."

"What did you do with Juunana-gou after he was regurgitated by Cell?" Marron asked quietly, since Goten seemed to be settling down on her for a post lunch nap. Kuririn looked at her strangely a moment.

"We left him there, he was destroyed during the last of the fight between Gohan-kun and Cell, Why?"

"He and Juuhachi-gou were both revived when you wished everyone on earth killed by Cell brought back, right?" she looked thoughtful as she chewed her lip.

"_Hai,_" Kuririn nodded. Trunks saw where she was going with her line of questioning. Essentially, the timeline had remained for the most part the same without his second visit, up to Cell's sicking up Juunana-gou instead of Marron's mother. Trunks had been there when Kuririn wished for the Jinzouningen to be made human again; it was his attraction for Juuhachi-gou that had made him wish her well and free of the self-destruct device.

"What did you use the second wish for Kuririn-san?" she asked him, her gaze steady. Gohan finally looked up from his fourth plate of food, with a grin.

"Kuririn-san didn't make the second wish, Dende-sama wished for all the damage done by the Jinzouningen and Cell to the Earth be repaired," Gohan told them. Marron shifted little Goten in her arms to a slightly more comfortable position, he was heavy for a five year old with those dense Saiyajin bones. Gohan noticed his little brother had fallen asleep on Marron and jumped to his feet, hurrying around the table.

"Sorry, Marron-san. I'll take him," Gohan offered. Marron shook her head with a little smile.

"He's fine. It's kind of funny actually…in my time Goten-kun is older than I am. He'd just die if he could see this," she said with a chuckle. Gohan sat in the chair next to her.

"What am I like in your time?" he asked, and then blushed a bit for sounding so eager. Marron tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. No matter how many times Trunks saw her make that gesture, it always reminded him of Juuhachi-gou. Excusing himself, he got up and left before Gohan could ask him what he was like in his time. He wasn't ready to tell another young man that he had been Trunks' only friend, his Sensei, and had died. Marron's eyes followed him out the door before returning to Gohan. "Did I say something wrong?" Gohan asked.

Marron shook her head. "No, Gohan-san-Gohan-_kun…_I mean. In my time you are a great scholar. In fact you were my Physics professor in college and my advisor when I got my doctorate," Marron told him with a small smile.

"Really? A professor…His Okaasan must be very pleased," Gohan said sadly. Kuririn nodded in sympathy.

"Chi-Chi-san was killed by the Jinzouningen several years ago," Kuririn answered Marron's questioning look. Marron bowed her head slightly to Gohan.

"I'm very sorry for your loss, Gohan-kun," she said quietly, every new tidbit of information about what Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou had done chipping away at her heart. Gohan shook off his sadness like a dog shaking water from its coat and smiled for her.

"What about him? What was I like in his time?" Gohan questioned. Thankfully, Marron was saved from answering by the timely appearance of Mr. Popo, informing them that the others had arrived. She stood and followed Kuririn and Gohan out to the courtyard of the Tenka, still holding little Goten in her arms…maybe they'd be less likely to blast first, ask questions later if she was holding on to Goten.

She joined Trunks where he stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets watching the plane land. He glanced at Marron and Goten and gave a half smile.

"Made a new friend already?" he asked her. She shifted the boy so his head was on her shoulder, but the motion woke him up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Marron owlishly.

"You're pretty," he stated. Marron smiled at him and rumpled his hair before setting him down.

"Sankyuu, Goten-kun," she said. Goten grinned at her and took her hand, standing next to her.

"And you smell good too," Goten informed them all. Kuririn laughed from nearby and Marron blushed a little. Trunks leaned over and gave Goten a mock serious look, his long hair falling over his face. Goten wrapped his little arms around Marron's leg and peeked at him.

"Quit trying to steal my girl," Trunks told him and winked. Marron snorted.

"Better watch it, those Son boys can really turn a girl's head," she told him archly, as she watched the others get off the plane. Her good humor fell away however, when she saw Bulma and Gohan carefully lead Yamucha off the plane. Goten ran over to join Little Trunks.

"What happened?" Trunks murmured. Marron had her hand over her mouth and was vaguely shaking her head. Kuririn shifted from foot to foot, looking from Marron to Trunks before he finally spoke.

"Happened just over three years ago, same time Chi-Chi died. Juu—uh, the Jinzouningen didn't kill him…they just blinded him and left him for dead. We managed to get him in time and revive him with senzu, but it didn't help his eyes," Kuririn told them quietly. Once he was off the plane Yamucha was doing fine moving around with his cane.

"Which one did it to him?" Marron asked in a tight voice, afraid of the answer. She'd noticed the hesitation in Kuririn's voice when he told them …she suspected Juunana-gou, she'd heard of her uncle's sadistic streak. Kuririn didn't answer and Marron closed her eyes tightly. How much worse could things get? She felt the tears start to prick the back of her eyes again. Trunks reached out to take her hand and she yanked hers away, despising suddenly the pitying look in his eyes. She didn't want him to pretend he knew how she felt.

"Marron…" Trunks said concerned. Marron shook her head numbly, her lips trembling. Yamucha was such a sweet man, in her time he'd been like an uncle to her, to see him like this and know it was her mother's fault. It was more than she could bear at the moment.

"No more…I can't hear anymore," she whispered and ran across the courtyard and into the far reaches of Dende's Palace. Trunks wanted to go after her, but he knew she probably needed some time alone. It pained him greatly that this was happening to her, perhaps Chibi had been correct after all. Marron would end up regretting her decision to join him in the Time Capsule. He sighed and put his hands in his pockets, scowling his frustration at the situation.

"What about the Dragonballs? Couldn't they have restored his vision, and revived Chi-Chi-san?" Trunks questioned. Kuririn nodded as they moved to join the others.

"Sure, if we had them…unfortunately, we don't," he said with a shrug.

"I'm afraid to ask," Trunks muttered under his breath.

"'Fraid so buddy…Juunana-gou's got 'em."


	4. Pow-Wow at the Tenka (pt. 2)

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Another potentially dry chapter…but important. Also, in case you haven't noticed I'm calling the young version of Trunks in this timeline 'Little Trunks' to differentiate him from 'Chibi Trunks' who was Marron's ex in her world. I know…too many Trunks'…I get con-foosed too. ^^

* * *

On the far side of Dende's Palace, where the Castle of God backed almost up to the very edge of the Tenka itself, was a secluded ledge where the curve of the white marble surface nearly met the straight wall of the palace. It was a forgotten corner of the shrine; even the diligent Mr. Popo barely remembered the alcove was there.

Marron sat on the very edge of the Tenka bowl in the alcove, her long legs dangling over the side and she watched the serene world below. The tranquility of the blue green planet seemed in sharp contrast to the conflict within her. She wanted to clap her hands over her ears and eyes and blot out the truths of what Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou had done. It had been easy before to disassociate their atrocities in Trunks' time. Easy to say that wasn't her mother, but this timeline was so close. Here she was faced with what they had done, even more than the haunted look she sometimes still saw in Trunks' eyes, here were the real consequences…Yamucha maimed, the other warriors murdered… And the responsible party was the woman who under alternate circumstances had borne her. It tore at her.

Was Trunks right? Was this what her mother would have been if her father hadn't cared about her? Had Juuhachi-gou always been just a hairsbreadth away from reverting to a cold systematic killer? Again, she was reminded of what her mother had told her after her father died, that she had lost her humanity, but did she ever really have it? Marron refused to believe it -to think it- her mother wasn't that person, she couldn't be! She couldn't have loved her father enough to follow him into the afterlife if she'd been completely heartless and cold.

Marron leaned over and stared straight down, the bottom of the Tenka bowl curved away, allowing her a thrilling view of the clouds and little slices of the Earth below. The high winds that blew at the ceiling of the world lifted her hair to cover her face like a golden shroud. For a horrible instant she was tempted to just let gravity take her, to not to use bukujutsu to keep herself in the air, and just plummet like a stone toward the planet below, anything to quiet the whirling chaos of her mind…to stop the hurting. Marron gripped the edge of the Tenka hard instead, and stared up to the blue sky above, the stars hidden just beyond the thin scud of atmosphere. Trunks' eyes were that exact shade of deep impossible blue. If it weren't for her loving Trunks, she'd give just about anything to wake up and find out this had all been a horrible dream, and that she was back in the lab at Capsule Corp. living her boring lonely life.

She wasn't at all startled when she felt him sit down behind her, between her and the wall of the palace, his legs outside of hers. Since she'd met him she'd noticed he had a tendency to seek her out, and she'd been expecting him. With a sigh, she leaned back against him, as he leaned against the wall and wrapped his arms around her middle.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked quietly. She could feel the violet silk of his loose hair tickling her cheek as the wind blew through it, twisting it with hers, his body warm and solid at her back, comforting her. His arms tightened around her a moment and his breath tickled her ear.

"Lesson for another day, my beloved…masking your ki."

She said nothing, just continued to stare out into the air, toward the gentle curve of the planet's edge.

"Come on, we need to go talk to the others…they're waiting," he told her gently. He had given her some time to be alone, purposefully stalling any discussion waiting for her to return, until he hadn't been able to stand it anymore and went to look for her.

"I can't. I just can't face those people knowing what Juunana-ojisan and Kaasan have done to them… Knowing when they look at me they'll just see Juuhachi-gou. I don't know what to do. I've never hated my own face before now," she said sadly, "I don't want to pretend that this whole thing isn't tearing me apart."

Trunks turned her in his embrace so he could see her face, tilting it up to his. "You can face them, and you will…because you're strong, Marron. That isn't _your_ mother out there, that Juuhachi-gou never had someone to care about her. I know it's hard, but you have to remember that. She's not your mother. It's a different time, a different set of circumstances. But even if it was the same, you can't blame yourself for what she's done. You had nothing to do with it."

"I know," she said quietly. "It's just…"

"Just what, Marron? You can't punish yourself because you resemble her a little," Trunks told her, and Marron laughed harshly.

"A LITTLE? Kuririn-san tried to take my head off today, you tried to charbroil me that time, all because of how much I look like her so don't tell me…" she said her eyebrows snapping down, "I bet if I cut my hair I'd nearly be her twin," she muttered miserably, turning her face away.

Trunks stared at her profile. It was true, where once he had looked at Marron and only seen the likeness of Juuhachi-gou; all he saw now were the subtle differences between them. Marron's eyes were darker and wider, despite the distinctive cat like tilt. Her eyebrows were several shades darker than her pale hair and a different shape than her mother's. Her waist length hair parted in the middle. He reached up and took her pointed little chin in his hand and turned her face back to his.

"No one has more reasons to hate the Jinzouningen than I do, Marron. I've hated Juuhachi-gou and her brother my whole life," he said softly, "But when I look at you, I don't see Juuhachi-gou…I see YOU. I see Marron, and I love you. If I can get past the resemblance, then they can too, if they can't...they can take it up with me," he told her. Her lips trembled and she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, her tears wetting the shoulder of his jacket. Trunks stood, still holding her tightly against him, and let her cry.

When she finally let go of him to wipe her eyes, she gave him the first real smile he'd seen from her all day, and he felt himself love her a little more. She was light; darkness shouldn't be allowed to touch her as it had him. She went up on her tiptoes to kiss him, just a brief press of her lips and breasts against him as she grasped his arms.

"I love you, Trunks…thank you," She whispered, and let him go. He smiled at her, looking a little mischievous, and cupped her face in his hand tenderly.

"Anytime…_Jinzouning-jo_," Trunks teased her gently, using the nickname of 'Android daughter' Vegeta had always called her. Marron blinked at him, but understood the meaning. He was right…she couldn't change who she was or where she came from, why fight it? She might as well embrace it. She lifted her chin in a defiant little tilt.

"Don't you forget it."

* * *

Marron leaned against the wall near Trunks, cupping her elbows in her hands; as she half listened to him explain his history, and what events had brought them to this time. She let her eyes idly roam over the people assembled in the dining hall of the Palace. She had been a little nervous when she and Trunks had rejoined them, still anticipating a hostile welcome. But she had been pleasantly surprised to find they had been curious about her, but not openly antagonistic. She supposed she had Kuririn and Gohan to thank for that…they had probably prepared them for her appearance. Still, she had nearly burst into tears again when Yamucha had greeted her warmly, wanting to meet the woman who was with the future version of his son.

She let her eyes rest on Little Trunks, who was sitting with Goten and staring up at her Trunks as he spoke with absolute worship on his face. She couldn't really blame him, Trunks was pretty impressive with the sword and all. She studied the boy carefully; she had seen enough pictures of Chibi Trunks as a child to be nearly certain that Little Trunks was also a child of Vegeta, not Yamucha. Despite both Yamucha and Bulma introducing the boy as Yamucha's son. She bit the inside of her mouth thoughtfully. Did Yamucha know the boy was part Saiyajin and claimed him as his own anyway? Or was Bulma hiding something from them all? Trunks had told her all about when he had first met his father when he went to the past and defeated Furiza – he had been a Super Saiyajin when he did it…did they just not remember it? Or believed Vegeta when he insisted Trunks couldn't be Saiyajin?

She noticed that Bulma was watching Trunks intently, chewing on a fingernail, and wondered what was making her so edgy. Before she could ponder it too long however, her attention was snapped back to the conversation when she heard Trunks ask Kuririn how Juunana-gou got the Dragonballs. She'd missed that part.

Kuririn explained that about eighteen months after Cell had been defeated, Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou had suddenly reappeared, with company. Three more Jinzouningen that seemed to be taking orders from Juunana-gou. Piccolo had been the first to fall at their hands. Tenshinhan and Yamucha had fought them together with disastrous results, Tenshinhan killed by Juunana-gou, and Yamucha maimed by his sister. Marron kept her face expressionless, despite the deep regret she felt at the sorrow she saw etched on their faces…especially little Chaozu at the mention of Tenshinhan.

"What about Vegeta-san?" Marron asked, contributing to the discussion at last, and asking the question she knew Trunks was most curious about.

"Vegeta fought them many times, before and after Ten and I fought them that last time. He was training Gohan and Goten, since the three of them were the only Saiyajin left, but the Jinzouningen never fight alone, always in two's or three's like a wolf pack," Yamucha told them. "They finally got tired of playing with him I guess."

Marron watched Bulma surreptitiously at Yamucha's mention of Vegeta, Gohan and Goten being the only Saiyajin. Her eyes met Bulma's, and Marron knew without the other woman saying that she'd been with Vegeta. And the nervous expression on her face told her that Yamucha didn't know about it. Marron swore to herself, this could really compromise how effectively they could deal with the situation if Trunks didn't feel he could show his Saiyajin strength.

"After Tenshinhan was killed, we gathered the Dragonballs to restore Yamucha's sight and wish Chi-Chi back. Unfortunately, somehow Juunana-gou got wind of it and sent his flunkies. They snatched the balls right out from under us. Vegeta went after them to get the Dragonballs back…he never returned. We...found him a few days later," Kuririn finished quietly. Marron wanted to reach out to Trunks, who took the news stoically, but didn't want to call any attention to the fact that Vegeta's death may have special significance to him. Trunks asked if they still engaged the Jinzouningen in battle.

"Since we lost Vegeta, our goal has been more of survival than fighting them. It's pretty much Gohan-kun and I at this point, and with Chi-Chi and Gokou both gone…it's fallen to me to take care of the boys, and I can't do that dead," Kuririn told them. Trunks nodded and studied his folded hands a moment.

"Marron and I ended up in your time by accident. Anything we do here could cause another timeline, but it seems clear to me that we have no choice but to help you get the Dragonballs back and defeat the Jinzouningen before we leave," Trunks said thoughtfully. Marron's eye twitched the tiniest bit at the mention of defeating the Jinzouningen.

"We already made another timeline when we first showed up Trunks…" Marron reminded him quietly. "And I still have to find a way to charge the Time Capsule back up or we're not going anywhere."

"Very well. Then it's decided," Trunks nodded, and looked at Kuririn. "Tell me more about these other three Jinzouningen…"

* * *

The late afternoon sun sparkled off the Time Capsule as it sat on the courtyard of the Tenka near the Capsule Corp plane. Bulma watched from afar as the young blonde woman Marron, sat on the ground nearby hunched over a laptop computer. She'd put on a pair of the ugliest wire framed glasses Bulma had ever had the misfortune of seeing on a woman, but the effect did more to disassociate Marron from the Jinzouningen then the young inventor could ever know. She was curious to talk to the young woman who seemed to be as on the ball as Bulma herself, maybe more so. She was fascinated by the Time Capsule too, it seemed like something born of her dreams as it stood glistening in the sun.

Her own son was sitting on one side of Marron, while Goten sat on the other. The fact that the young boys had quickly taken to the Jinzouningen's daughter should have alleviated Bulma's hesitation in approaching her, but the memory of those icy blue eyes meeting hers while her husband mentioned Vegeta wouldn't leave her mind. Those eyes seemed to look right into her and know the truth. Bulma looked across the Tenka courtyard to where Kuririn, Gohan, and the future version of her son -the one who'd been here before- sat on the steps leading into Dende's Palace with the young Kami himself. She vaguely wondered where Yamucha had gotten himself off to, then noticed Roshi, Oolong, and Yajirobe were missing as well…knowing them they were all together.

She watched the older version of her son with interest. He was such a self-assured, polite and quiet young man, well not that young…he seemed only five or six years younger physically than Bulma was herself. And handsome...more handsome even than Vegeta had been. His hair was much longer than when he'd visited that first time, falling to below his shoulders before he'd tied it back. And the color, like her son's, that pale violet they'd inherited from their grandfather, and the blue eyes from her…but his face. He was pure Vegeta, so much so that if she pictured black hair and eyes on him he'd be the mirror image of the Saiyajin Prince. Thankfully, she seemed to be the only one who saw the resemblance…so far.

She looked back toward Marron, her son's...what? He hadn't exactly said what the relationship between them was: just friends, lovers, married? Whichever of the three, they seemed very close.

"Bulma-san? Could I get your opinion on this?" Marron's voice cut into her reverie. Bulma went and joined the young woman. By the time Marron brought her up to speed on the Time Capsule's schematics, and explained the strange device she had laid out on the ground in front of her -the _jinkouseki- _Bulma had a new respect for the young woman from the future. She looked at her in awe.

"You're brilliant," Bulma told her. Marron blushed and pushed her glasses up her nose, seeming glad that Little Trunks and Goten had wandered off to play somewhere else a few sentences into her elucidation of the problem.

"Don't praise me…you built the Time Capsule. Well, Trunks' Kaasan from the future anyway," Marron told her humbly. Bulma gestured at the _jinkouseki._

"This is what I was talking about, how innovative. I wish I had someone like you working for me," Bulma said. For some reason Marron found this funny and the blonde threw her head back and laughed. Bulma blinked at her, any resemblance to Juuhachi-gou was eclipsed when Marron laughed and smiled. Bulma noticed the sound of Marron's laughter had grabbed Trunks' attention. _They're definitely more than friends_, Bulma could tell as the older version of her son watched Marron with intense eyes.

"Sorry, it's just that in my world, before I left, I _did_ work for you. You're the reason I became an inventor," Marron told Bulma with a smile. Bulma puffed a bit.

"It's nice to know someone appreciates my genius," she said waving her hand. Marron smiled at her, and the two women bent their heads over the computer, discussing Marron's plan to modify the _jinkouseki_ yet again to take the energy it collected and charge the time machine with it. Any hesitation on Bulma's part melted away as they worked collectively and she found she really liked the younger woman. It probably helped that Marron had worked with Bulma for so long, she knew how her mind worked, and they collaborated very well together as they modified the device, completely absorbed in what they were doing. They were so engrossed in fact, that they barely noticed the nightfall. Mr. Popo brought them a light when they refused to come in and risk losing one of the tiny pieces of the _jinkouseki_ they had spread around them.

Bulma stretched and tried to pop the kinks out of her back. They had been working for hours, but had finally finished making the modifications. _Two beautiful geniuses are better than one,_ she thought smugly. Bulma looked back over her shoulder at Marron, who was packing up the tools they'd been using. She was bathed in the blue light from the laptop's monitor, her mouth set in a hard line. She sighed as she closed the laptop, casting herself in shadow. Bulma felt a twinge of unease.

"What's wrong?" Bulma asked her, pretty sure she would regret the question. She really couldn't see Marron's face in the weak work light Popo had brought them. Marron was quiet so long Bulma was about to ask again, when her soft voice came out of the dark.

"Yamucha-san doesn't know does he?" she asked and Bulma felt an icy dread move through her.

"Whatever are you talking about?"

"Don't be coy, Bulma-san. I'll not reveal what I know, that's not my place…it's Trunks'. But the Trunks I came in the Time Capsule with is the son of Vegeta and Bulma. Are you going to tell me your son isn't the same?" Marron asked. Bulma sat back down heavily next to her. Bulma had never heard Juuhachi-gou speak, but if she had, she'd have been struck by the similarities in the dry amused tone Marron used.

"No…I can't," Bulma sighed finally. "After your Trunks warned us of the Jinzouningen's arrival in three years, everyone went and trained to prepare. Yamucha and Vegeta both trained at Capsule Corporation. Vegeta in the Gravity Chamber my father made for him. He sparked my interest, you know? He was very proud and mysterious…there was just something about him…" Bulma said and tipped her head back to look at the star filled sky.

"Hmmmm," Marron nodded. She could imagine, that intangible quality had been passed on to his son.

"Yamucha and I got engaged, despite the pressure to be ready for the Jinzouningen's coming. It was a surprise after all those years together that he finally asked me. I think he didn't like Vegeta being around, and wanted to make sure he knew whose girl I was," Bulma said with a little chuckle. "It caused a rift between us, Vegeta's being there, and my growing interest in him. I thought I hid it, but Yamucha knew. We fought about it, Yamucha wanted him to leave, and I wanted him to stay. I argued that we would need Vegeta if the Androids were as strong as Trunks predicted. I had my own reasons for wanting him to stay.

"Make no mistake, I love Yamucha…I've loved him since I was sixteen. But Vegeta, he just fascinated me."

"Did he love you?" Marron asked her. Bulma laughed brightly.

"I sincerely doubt it! He insulted me at every turn, every opportunity. Called me stupid and ugly. Used to make me furious! But part of me inside must have wondered if he really meant the opposite because I slept with him. Only once…but I guess once was all it took. Yamucha and I'd had another blow out over Vegeta, and I told him the wedding was off. Yamucha left…it was horrible. And then one night it just happened…Vegeta and me. I felt guilty, even though Yamucha and I had broken up. When Yamucha came and apologized a few days later I took him back without any hesitation, and married him without any regrets," Bulma finished.

"In my time…you are married to Vegeta-san, and have two children," Marron told her with a little laugh, and enlightened her on Bra, and life with Vegeta.

"Really_? _I couldn't imagine being _married_ to that impossible man," Bulma said turning her amazed gaze to Marron. Marron bit the inside of her cheek trying to think of how to broach the subject that was concerning her delicately, but she was too much her mother's daughter in the end.

"Are you going to tell Yamucha?" she asked bluntly. Bulma narrowed her eyes a bit in Marron's direction.

"I wasn't planning on hurting him by telling him the son he's so proud of isn't his, no," Bulma said acerbically. Marron felt her own frustration rise in response.

"But Bulma-san, I know Trunks…even before I met this one, I grew up with a son of Vegeta. He's a Saiyajin! He has to fight; I could no more stop him from taking on the Jinzouningen, than turn the tide with pretty words. He'll fight them, he's incredibly strong and he could beat them, but only if he can become a Super Saiyajin. The minute he does it, everyone will know. Forcing him to keep your secret puts him at risk…I won't let that happen," Marron said with intent, and stared Bulma down in a battle of wills.

"You have to tell him or I will," Marron threatened quietly, when Bulma didn't respond. Bulma stared at the young woman. This was what she had been afraid of, since she had gotten off the plane and seen that the visitor was the young man from the future. She remembered when he defeated Furiza, and how Vegeta had assured everyone there was no way he could be a Saiyajin. When her own son had been born, she'd counted on everyone forgetting the mysterious youth. She'd never counted on him coming back.

"I'm sorry, Bulma-san. I don't want to hurt you or threaten you…but I _will not_ lose Trunks because you're afraid to tell your husband you had a one night stand, during a break up before you were married," Marron said and put her hand on the older woman's shoulder. Bulma felt trapped, the girl was right certainly. She didn't want anything to happen to the future version of her son either. But she didn't have to like it, as she angrily shrugged the hand off her.

The sound of footsteps moving away alerted them to the presence of another, and they both looked up in surprise to see Yamucha walking away from them back toward the palace, having overheard enough. Bulma felt her guilt and worry give over to anger towards Marron, misguided as it may be. Even as she was relieved the secret would finally be revealed, she lashed out at the younger woman.

"I hope you're satisfied! You're a cold heartless bitch just like your mother, you know that?" Bulma spat at her venomously, before going after her husband.

"I know," Marron whispered to Bulma's retreating back, as hot tears pricked her eyes again. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she sat on the hard marble floor of the Tenka and wept for the umpteenth time that day until Trunks finally came to collect her for bed.

"This has been, on the whole, the singularly most crappy day I think I've ever had," she informed him.


	5. Juunana-gou's Goon Squad

_Translations from Japanese: _

_Juukyuu-gou – Android #19_

_Nijuu-gou – Android #20 (Dr. Gero)_

_Juusan-gou – Android #13 (DBZ Movie Only)_

_Juuyon-gou – Android #14 __(DBZ Movie Only)_

_Juugo-gou – Android #15 __(DBZ Movie Only)_

_Juuroku-gou – Android #16_

* * *

"I'm thinking it's way past time we had our pals go blow something up. What do you think Juuhachi-gou?" Bored, Juuhachi-gou slid her eyes across the room to rest on her twin.

Juunana-gou was kicked back in the overstuffed recliner he'd claimed as his 'throne' when they had taken possession of the mansion on the hill. Juunana-gou had laughed madly as he'd ordered the newly activated Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou to evict the current residents. Of course those two had the combined I.Q. of dirt, and they managed to blow up the entire East Wing of the house doing it. His 'pals' as he called them, entertained the raven haired Jinzouningen to no end. Juuhachi-gou however, was less than thrilled by her twins minions, especially Juusan-gou. She didn't trust the white-haired android. Something about him bothered her.

"I think you need a new hobby, Juunana-gou," she commented dryly. Juunana-gou smirked at her, his arms folded behind his head. The Jinzouningen's Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou stood against the wall near him. The larger of the two Juuyon-gou looked as impassive as a statue. She'd thought that Juuroku-gou was stoic, but he was loquacious compared to the huge gray skinned android. Looking tiny in comparison, the purple-skinned Juugo-gou took repeated pulls off his whiskey bottle.

Juuhachi-gou could feel Juusan-gou's eyes on her from where he sat in a dark corner of the room. Another reason she didn't care for him: he skulked. And lately she'd noticed him purposefully defying Juunana-gou, despite his re-programming, which should have made him as pliable as the other two. No, she didn't care for him at all, just as she didn't care for Juunana-gou's childish and sadistic games. She'd have left long ago if the thought of leaving her brother alone without someone to watch his back didn't cause her artificial heart to seize up.

"Aw come on, Sis…lighten up. If we get lucky we might be graced with the appearance of wonder boy and his little bald buddy. We haven't had a decent fight in ages."

She folded her arms across her chest, her back ramrod straight as she raised one eyebrow archly. "Why is that, hmmm? It couldn't be because you keep killing them off now could it?"

Juunana-gou grinned crookedly. "What do you care? Oh wait…that's right. You have a soft spot for the little bald wimp," Juunana-gou laughed. Juuhachi-gou came as close as she got to looking apoplectic. Her left eye started twitching as she glared at her twin.

"Don't be ridiculous, Juunana-gou," she snorted, as her twin threw his head back and brayed laughter at her. Even worse, from the dark corner of the room she heard a low chuckle emanating from Juusan-gou. She gritted her teeth in annoyance, refusing to let her twin get the better of her about her one and only lapse. Why _had_ she kissed that little bald twerp in front of her brother anyway? He'd never let her live it down. When he started making kissing sounds in her direction she'd had enough.

"You are such a child," she snapped.

Juunana-gou's laughter trailed off and he looked to Juusan-gou, waving his hand dismissively. "Go. Spread your merry mayhem," he said with a smirk. Automatically, Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou moved as one away from the wall and out the door. Juusan-gou hesitated a moment before going, half in shadow and half in light. Looking lanky despite his bulk.

"And the Z-Warriors? If they start something?" he asked. Juunana-gou looked to his twin, but she resolutely refused to meet his gaze and show if she cared one way or another. He shrugged.

"Whatever," he commented bored, "knock yourself out."

Juusan-gou's eyes glittered in the dark as he grinned mercilessly, withdrawing toward the door. Juuhachi-gou watched him from the corner of her eye. Her suspicion of the android intensified, what did he look so damned pleased about?

He would bear watching.

* * *

The bright morning sun bathed the courtyard of Dende's Palace with its radiance. The gentle wind drifted through the carefully tended trees and flowers, making them sway. The cracks and booms of flesh hitting flesh as two figures moved in the air too fast to be seen broke the serenity of the shrine.

Morning sparring.

Marron impacted with the hard tiled surface of the Tenka forcibly enough to knock the wind out of her before rolling to a stop. She groaned softly as she picked herself up, a little slower than the last four times she'd slammed into the ground. Giving up was absolutely out of the question; she was far too stubborn -_Thank you, Kaasan_- for that. She wiped the trickle of blood that ran from the corner of her mouth away on the back of her arm, and faced her opponent.

Trunks hovered a few feet away and above her with his arms folded as he waited for her to attack again. They had been training most of the morning. His face was stern; no love would be displayed there when he was sparring with her. And he would show her absolutely no mercy while training. The Jinzouningen would show no mercy either when they faced them, and he was determined to be ready for that eventuality. Despite his severe tactics, he was secretly proud of her for not giving up, even as he pushed her harder and harder. Fear of losing her being his motivation.

"You're going to have to do a lot better than that," he told her uncompromisingly. Remembering her training with him, she thrust her hands out suddenly and fired a ki blast at him. The instant it left her hands she was in the air following it. Trunks did just as she expected, he didn't dodge it, just swatted the weak blast aside effortlessly. Leaving him wide open for her fist to connect with his jaw smartly. She pressed her momentary advantage the best she could, using her speed to block and avoid most of his attacks, while connecting with several blows of her own. It was short lived however, for as good and fast as she was, Trunks was still a much, much, stronger and experienced fighter. A two fisted blow to the back sent her crashing into the surface of the Tenka…again. She didn't get up this time, just lay face down on the white tile and wished for oblivion.

She saw Trunks land in front of her and crouch down. He put his hand on the back of her head tenderly, stroking her hair. "You all right, _itoshii_?" he asked softly. She groaned and rolled over on her back.

"_NOW_ I'm your darling?" she asked plaintively, looking up into Trunks' face. "Ugh, do ya have to hit me so hard?" He smiled, that gentle, but faintly cruel smile that was so reminiscent of his father and propped his elbows on his knees as he crouched beside her.

"You think the Jinzouningen are going to go easy on you, my love?" he asked, still using that quiet mild voice of his, so those looking on: Kuririn, Gohan, Yajirobe, Chaouzu, Goten, and Little Trunks wouldn't overhear. Marron knew Yamucha was sitting with the onlookers as well, and she felt her guilt renewed at what had transpired between she and Bulma the night before.

"Maybe," she told him petulantly. It was far too early in the day for her body to hurt this bad. "Besides…I'm a genius. Why do I have to train? _You're_ the one who wants to fight them," she pointed out, still lying flat on her back.

"Your greatest strength is in your brain Marron. But you need to be stronger in your body as well," he told her as she sat up. She grimaced.

"Yeah, well...I thought you liked my body." Trunks grinned wolfishly and helped her all the way up, pulling her against him on purpose as he did it, but making it look accidental.

"I love your body. And I want it to stay in one piece, that's why you're going to train," he said and kissed her, unmindful of those watching. Which seemed very un-Trunks like to her, and she blushed prettily.

"Break it up, lovebirds!" Kuririn called good-naturedly. Trunks blushed slightly and let her go, turning toward the other fighters. Marron tightened the ponytail on the back of her head and brushed herself off embarrassed.

He was about to ask who wanted to spar next when Bulma ran up breathless, radio in hand.

"Jinzouningen! They're attacking Pepper Town again," she said.

"How many?" Gohan asked her. Bulma put the radio to her ear again. Listening, she held up three fingers. Kuririn got up and fisted his hands.

"Sounds like Juunana-gou's Goon Squad," Kuririn said and looked to Trunks. "If we can follow them back to Juunana-gou, we might be able to get those Dragonballs back."

Trunks nodded, and strapped on his sword. "All right. But if we have to, we hit 'em hard and we hit 'em fast." Gohan and Kuririn nodded in agreement.

Trunks looked to Marron, who was already shrugging into her jacket after putting the _jinkouseki _on her right hand. The device was like a fingerless glove with a red crystal in the palm, much like the absorption device in the palms of Jinzouningen Juukyuu-gou and Jinzouningen Nijuu-gou: Dr. Gero himself. He frowned.

"You're not going," he told her. Her head snapped up, as her eyebrows went down in a scowl.

"The HELL I'm not! You need me," she told him, hands fisted on her hips. Trunks folded his arms.

"I need you here. Figuring out those Jinzouningen plans you found in Dr. Gero's lab. Finding a weakness," he told her. He wouldn't dare tell her he didn't want her along because he was afraid of her getting hurt.

"Bulma-san can review those plans! I need to collect the energy to charge the Capsule remember?" she bit out, holding up the hand encased in her invention. She was getting annoyed, there was no way she was letting Trunks go into battle without her, especially if he wouldn't transform into a Super Saiyajin. She didn't care if Kuririn and Gohan were with him.

"Kuririn can do it," he told her and held out his hand for the _jinkouseki._ Marron's face got red as she glared at Trunks, just looking for the words to fully express her outrage over the situation, and his proprietary behavior towards her. He was acting like Chibi all of a sudden.

"Forget it!I'm going," she ground out stubbornly and folded her arms. Gohan leaned over to Kuririn's ear.

"Ut-oh," he said quietly. Kuririn jumped in to try and diffuse the stare down Trunks and Marron were engaged in.

"Yeah, Marron-chan…I can, um, take care of that for you. Heh heh…no…problem..." he trailed off when he earned himself his very own death glare from his other world daughter. Marron stabbed a finger in Trunks' direction.

"If you think, for even one minute, that I am just going to let you go and face them without me..." she said in a low voice, flicking her eyes in the direction of Yamucha and Bulma briefly, "…considering the extenuating circumstances. You have another thing coming, Trunks. I don't want to lose you," she said urgently. She was staring at Trunks so intently, she never heard Yamucha approach until he put his hand on her shoulder…with uncanny accuracy too she noticed, considering he couldn't see her.

"You won't lose me, I promise Marron…now give me the device," Trunks said gently. "We don't have time for this, we have to get there before they destroy everything."

"But Trunks…" she started again, and Yamucha's hand tightened down on her shoulder.

"Trunks can handle himself, Marron…he is a Super Saiyajin after all," Yamucha said loud enough for everyone to hear, "and if he's anything like Vegeta you know he'll just resent the help. Give it to him."

Marron was stunned into compliance by Yamucha's revelation. She took the _jinkouseki _off and dropped it into Trunks' hand reluctantly, as the others tried to process what Yamucha had just said, murmuring to each other. Goten and Little Trunks looked at each other blankly, not comprehending the implication, being too little.

"Trunks is a Super Saiyajin?" she heard Kuririn ask. Bulma cringed inwardly as multiple sets of eyes fell on her speculatively.

Yamucha let go of her shoulder and stepped away as Trunks took her face in his hands and kissed her, before she could remember she was mad.

"Don't be angry with me, I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you…I love you," he whispered hurriedly. Marron felt her panic rise to the back of her throat.

"Trunks please! Let me get your back! I can handle it! Don't leave me here to worry…" she pleaded. Ignoring her he just smiled, cupping her face in his hand before he stepped away and tossed the device to Kuririn. Who put it on while Bulma gave him hasty instructions on its use. Trunks looked to Gohan and nodded.

"Let's go!_"_ Trunks said and snapped into Super Saiyajin, Gohan following suit a moment later. Kuririn stared open mouthed.

"He is a Super Saiyajin! But how…?" he asked. Bulma shook her head.

"Ask later! You guys have to get moving! Pepper Town's not right next door you know!" she snapped briskly. Marron started toward Trunks, but found Yamucha's hands on her shoulders again, holding her back.

"Trunks!" she yelled at him, worry and anger clouding her features. He really couldn't mean to run off and leave her behind!

"Keep her here," Trunks said to Yamucha, and without a backwards glance, he, Gohan, and Kuririn took to the air in a jet engine blast of power. Heading over the side of the Tenka to the planet below. Marron's cursing was almost drowned out by the sound.

"Goddammit Truuuunnnks!" she screamed, as Yamucha held her by the arms to keep her from flying after her love.

Dende blushed.

* * *

The Jinzouningen designated Juusan-gou sat complacently on top of a ruined building and watched his companions as they systematically destroyed Pepper Town. He was having them be far more thorough than Juunana-gou usually ever let them be. When they were done there wouldn't be anything left bigger than a pebble. That would bring the Z-Fighters as surely as sending them an engraved invitation.

He pulled the Red Ribbon cap he wore down low over his eyes and leaned back on his elbows, to a casual observer he looked as if he hadn't a care in the world, despite the symphony of destruction going on around him. And for all intents and purposes he didn't. Juuhachi-gou was right to be suspicious of him. Juunana-gou may tout himself as Dr. Gero's greatest creation -dismissing the Jinzouningen Cell conveniently- but Juusan-gou was built with a dual capability, a failsafe as it were, to complete his original programming of destroying Son Gokou. All it would take was the sacrifice of Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou.

When he'd been activated it wasn't by his creator, or with his original purpose. It was to the smirking face of Juunana-gou informing him that his primary objective was gone and he was to do his bidding now. Juusan-gou ground his teeth at the memory. Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou seemed to have readily accepted their new programming, but Juusan-gou was different. His processor held a backup of Dr. Gero's master computer that even Juunana-gou hadn't been able to override. He knew his original purpose and he fully intended to fulfill it.

He just needed to bide his time. He wasn't stronger than the combined might of Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou…not yet, but he was never meant to be the flunky of a swaggering, cocky android either. He was solely created for the destruction of the Son family. He'd already gotten the woman; it was just a matter of time before he did away with the two brats. And then he was going to have a long talk with Juunana-gou. The kind only one of them was going to walk away from alive. A thin cruel smile curled his lips as he looked forward to tearing Juunana-gou apart. He couldn't wait for the day.

The jet engine blast of flight brought him out of his reverie, and he sat up quickly to see Son Gohan, Kuririn -that one Juuhachi-gou seemed to be so bothered over- and a stranger who glowed with the same power as Son Gohan, descend rapidly from the sky to take on his brethren. Juusan-gou's smile widened, and he stood, straightening his yellow vest over his bare chest. The newcomer drew a wicked sword as he dropped in from above in a first strike on Juuyon-gou, almost catching the huge android unaware. He noticed Kuririn was fighting with Juugo-gou nearby.

Juusan-gou fairly beamed in anticipation as he saw Son Gohan spot him and charge toward him to engage in battle. A chance to take out one of the hated Son's, and a new warrior possibly capable of destroying Juuyon-gou and helping him fulfill his ultimate purpose.

Juunana-gou's day of reckoning with him may be sooner than he thought.


	6. Discovery

Marron drummed her fingers impatiently against the table as she went over the plans for Jinzouningen Juusan-gou for the third time. She couldn't concentrate on the intricate schematics as well as she should and it was frustrating her. She just couldn't seem to get her mind off of worrying about Trunks. Coupled with the disbelief that he had just left her behind like that. She'd made quite the scene too after he flew off, twisting and fighting against Yamucha like a wildcat as he'd held her Tenka bound so she couldn't go after Trunks. It hadn't been until he'd quietly pointed out to her that Trunks was more vulnerable and prone to getting hurt with her along that she had finally given up and reluctantly agreed to stay and work on the plans with Bulma. She might have given in…but it didn't mean she had to like it.

"You can stop that any time," Bulma told her, raising her eyes from the other two sets of schematics. Marron jerked her hand back guiltily from where she she'd been tapping her fingernails against the tabletop.

"Sorry," she mumbled, lowering her eyes. She and Bulma had been working in an awkward silence for the last three quarters of an hour, the events of the night before still hanging over them like a cloud. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and forced herself to focus on the task at hand, even as her mind wandered back to Trunks again. Absently she chewed at her fingernail as her eyes slid over the lines and numbers that made up the Jinzouningen's blueprint. Normally she would be able to tell what every circuit did, what every wire and microchip was for, now her eyes only saw lines and patterns. She gritted her teeth in frustration. Trunks was counting on her to find a weakness…a weakness that at least Juusan-gou didn't seem to have. She winced as she bit down too hard on her cuticle, making it bleed. Sticking her finger in her mouth she sucked on the thin trail of blood that leaked from the torn skin. She glanced up at Bulma and found the other woman watching her, a tired expression on her face.

"He'll be all right…you know that," Bulma told her quietly. Marron shrugged and nodded vaguely.

"I know…it's just—" she started.

"You feel helpless just sitting here when there must be something you could do. Not to mention not knowing what's going on," Bulma finished for her. "Trust me, I've been there, and I've been there before you were even born so I think I know how you feel," Bulma told her with a small laugh.

"Then how do you stay so calm?" Marron questioned plaintively, still gnawing on her cuticle.

"Who said I was calm? I'm a nervous wreck!" Bulma laughed, spreading her hands wide and earning a wan smile from her blonde companion. "Look Marron…all you can do is wait. And have faith that they will prevail and come back. You have to believe in Trunks, and Gohan, and Kuririn… That's the only thing you can do for them," Bulma told her gently, and reaching across the table pulled Marron's hand away from her mouth before she chewed the ends of her fingers off in worry, giving her hand a quick squeeze before letting go. Marron's expression hardened into one of determination.

"It's not the _only_ thing," Marron said, turning back to Juusan-gou's plans, "I can find a way for them to beat these things."

"You mean WE," Bulma smiled at her, and scooted her chair closer so they could look over all three plans together at the same time. Marron returned the blue haired woman's smile gratefully. She sensed the tension between them easing and felt she had to get her regret for the night before off her chest.

"By the way I'm so terribly sorry about what happened last night Bulma-san…" Marron began before Bulma waved her hand, cutting her off.

"Forgotten," Bulma told her.

"Was he…very upset?" Marron asked hesitantly. Bulma's blue eyes met hers only briefly before she turned back to the plans.

"He knew," she murmured, "all this time…he knew Trunks wasn't his son and he never said a word. Just loved him and raised him like his own. He really is a remarkable man, Marron-chan. No matter what anyone thinks or says," Bulma said, wiping moisture from the corner of her eye. "Vegeta would never have done the same. I know I made the right choice." Marron put her arm around the older woman's shoulder and squeezed it lightly. Bulma covered Marron's hand with hers, accepting the gesture of friendship and compassion with one of her own.

"Now let's get back to work and find a way to stop these things, ne? There'll be time enough for sentimentality when the world is safe again. Those Jinzouningen don't know what they're in for with TWO beautiful geniuses on the case!" Bulma said confidently.

_"_Right!_"_

* * *

Trunks dropped from the sky toward the two unaware Jinzouningen like a hawk in a dive. Selecting the larger of the two as his target he drew his sword, arcing it down in a deathblow that should split the hulking android in two just like it had Furiza.

_"HYAAAAAAA!" _he screamed, his aura flaring up around him at the last second. He waited eagerly for the slight tug of resistance as his sword parted synthetic flesh and metal skeleton, but it didn't come. Instead his downward momentum was halted with a jolt as Juuyon-gou turned with surprising speed, catching the blade of Trunks' broadsword between his palms. Data flashed across the surface of the android's eyes as he regarded Trunks stoically and then with a brief snapping motion flung him away like a fly.

Righting himself in the air, Trunks' feet barely touched the ground before he renewed the attack, flying in low with a wicked upwards slice of his sword only to have the huge android adroitly spring away turning a lethal slash into a minor scratch of Juuyon-gou's gray skin. Narrowing his eyes Trunks studied his silent impassive opponent a moment, looking for any opening. So far his first two attacks with the sword had failed, the Jinzouningen was faster than he looked. Or perhaps after thirteen years of peace he was just out of practice. He doubted it. Trunks felt the welcome call of his Saiyajin blood to battle flow over him. He may wish fervently for peace, but the Saiyajin -the _Vegeta-_ in him was always prepared for this. Another world to liberate, another Jinzouningen threat…it was too familiar…too much like coming home, and with another kiai yell Trunks launched himself back at Juuyon-gou with deadly intent.

* * *

"This makes no sense…why on Kami's green earth would Gero design _this_ model to hold three power cells and three CPU's, but not install them? That's what's got me stumped," Bulma leaned back in her chair with a frown, gesturing to the blueprint of Juusan-gou with her chin. "Why didn't he design the other two the same way?"

Marron took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. They could stare at these plans until they were blue in the face and would be no closer to finding a weakness. The pressure of having to find one wasn't helping, and she shrugged her shoulders weakly.

"And one other thing…these three are numbered lower than Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou, which would stand to reason that they were at least designed before Gero built Juunana and Juuhachi since he seemed to abandon truly metal contructs in favor of cyborgs," Bulma went on, missing the slight narrowing of Marron's eyes at the mention of her mother and uncle being 'built' like machines, rather than the enhanced humans that they were.

"So? What's your point?" Marron asked, squinting at the analysis she was running on her laptop intently.

"It's not really a point…I just wonder why if Gero went to all the trouble of building these three...why didn't he activate them? We never saw these Jinzouningen until after Cell," Bulma wondered, "I can't imagine he'd build them for nothing."

"Hmmmm…" Marron said her brow furrowed.

"What hmm? If you have a theory…"

"I can only think that perhaps it was because they were unfinished. I know the Bulma I worked for had half and three quarters completed projects lying around all over. I'm guilty of starting more projects than I can conceivably finish myself. So I thought perhaps they were never activated before, because they weren't finished."

"There's a hole in that theory," Bulma said. Marron nodded in agreement.

"Dr. Gero has been dead for years…if they were unfinished, then who finished them?"

"Precisely. But that's neither here nor there. The problem is finding a weakness, and as far as I can see, none of them have one. In fact this Juusan-gou is one of the most complex examples of a metal Jinzouningen construct that I have ever seen. He blows Juuroku-gou away," Bulma pondered softly, her eyes far away as she remembered running the code of Juuroku-gou's brain through the computer with her father back at Capsule Corp. Those were the days…

_"_Shit!_"_ Marron hissed in impatience as she waited for her poor overworked computer to catch up with her own brain.

_"_What is it?_"_

"Oh it's nothing. My computer has gotten so slow. I need to upgrade the hardware on it so it will run faster and better, but I haven't had the time," Marron told Bulma absently. Realization dawned in her eyes of what she had said the same moment as Bulma and the two scientists' eyes met in epiphany.

"Upgrade!" they chorused excited, and bent their heads back to the plans with new purpose. Looking for an indication that Juusan-gou was built with the intent to be upgraded. That would be the only reason for him to have the unused receptacles in his design. Ten minutes later they were back where they started.

"I take back what I said. This is the worst design I have ever seen…look at where those power cells and CPU's go! How is anyone supposed to get new components in there to upgrade it anyway? I don't see any access ports," Bulma complained loudly.

"What in the hell was Gero thinking?"

* * *

'_What the hell was Bulma thinking?'_ Kuririn thought as he barely evaded another volley of ki blasts the Jinzouningen designated Juugo-gou fired down on him. Singeing the back of his dogi nicely as he leapt out of the way.

It wasn't bad enough he somehow drew the lot of fighting the diminutive purple-skinned android; but he also got tapped to try and collect energy via Marron's invention, the _jinkouseki_. So far he hadn't had any luck with it either, Bulma's hasty instructions hadn't sunk in well as he'd been too overwhelmed with things -the appearance of his other world daughter, Trunks being a Super Saiyajin, the impending battle- to pay that close of attention. It was hard enough fighting the little android, he was annoyingly zippy, but trying to work the energy collection device, to stand there and LET Juugo-gou shoot him…it just went a little too much against Kuririn's healthy sense of self preservation.

Back flipping out of range, Kuririn quickly yanked the _jinkouseki_ from his hand. He'd been at a disadvantage while wearing it. He couldn't fire a Kienzan with Marron's device on his right hand, so he stuffed it into his shirt. When they got this mess straightened out he'd be more than happy to fire energy at Bulma while she held the device if that's what it took. Hell…he'd probably enjoy too.

He noticed Juugo-gou taking quick pulls off his ever-present whiskey bottle as he hovered above him. The purple-skinned android was looking over toward where Trunks had Juuyon-gou on the run so to speak with furious swipes of his sword, giving the big android no time to recover between attacks. Juugo-gou held up his hand palm outward intending to fire on Trunks while his back was turned.

"Oh no you don't you little bug!" Kuririn yelled, launching himself into the air and ramming his shoulder into Juugo-gou just as he let the energy blast go, making it miss the intended target by several feet. Kuririn was used to this tactic of the Jinzouningen helping each other out when one might be at risk of losing, and it never failed to really piss him off. While the Jinzouningen had always outnumbered them, Kuririn was confident that he and Gohan could beat any one of the Androids -with the probable exception of Juunana-gou and Juuhachi-gou- if they could just catch them alone, one on one…but they never fought alone. Now that they had Trunks along it suddenly became a much fairer fight. And that suited Kuririn just fine.

Recovering Juugo-gou turned to face him with teeth bared, adjusting the dark glasses he wore. The LCD's clearly visible as the little android scanned him. He looked down at his now broken whiskey bottle with an almost comical expression of remorse before turning back to Kuririn. Kuririn fisted his hands on his hips, looking pleased.

"Heh! You don't like it much when the tables are turned do ya?" Kuririn scoffed. Methodically, Juugo-gou straightened his long orange overcoat, and resettled his ridiculous green hat on his head. Lulled by watching the little android perform the mundane, and strangely human tasks of adjusting his attire Kuririn was off guard when Juugo-gou suddenly thrust his hands out toward him and let go with an energy blast that caught Kuririn point blank in the chest, sending him flying back through several partially destroyed buildings before he skidded to a stop in a trench carved by his own back.

"Guh! That was dumb…" Kuririn groaned as he picked himself up out of the trench. A tinkling like broken glass caught his attention and he looked down to see the front of his shirt and dogi had been mostly burned away, exposing his chest. Kuririn made a noise of dismay as he watched the remains of Marron's invention fall to the ground in pieces.

"Ut oh…" he muttered.

* * *

"When a problem seems overwhelming break it down to manageable components…" Marron muttered to herself under her breath, as she systematically went over the parts list she'd made for the three Jinzouningen. It was tedious, boring work…normally Marron wouldn't mind a bit, but the pressure she and Bulma were under was making her edgy.

"Do you see _any_ part on Juusan-gou's list labeled…MB-I5? Or PO-I4?" Bulma asked from where she was hunched over Juusan's plans, spread out on the floor.

"No," Marron responded tiredly.

"How 'bout…MB-I4 or PO-I5?" Bulma asked hopefully. Marron shook her head. "Well, I found this notation here, that these empty ports would take those parts. What I want to know is, what's so special about those specific part numbers when what he has already installed is a…Multiprocessor One-three." Bulma said scowling. Marron sat up ramrod straight in her chair. "What?" Bulma asked.

"Multi Processor One Three…M P-13. Could the parts your looking for be…MP and then One Four? Not '**_I' _**four?" Marron asked slowly. Bulma's eyes lit up and she bent back to the small hard to read notation on Juusan-gou's plans.

"_Hai!_" Bulma crowed, "that's it! Marron you are a genius! What am I saying? Of course you are…you worked for me," Bulma clapped her hands happily that even one small modicum of progress in figuring out Juusan-gou's design had been accomplished. Her satisfaction quickly died away however at the strange expression on the young blonde's face. "What is it?" she asked.

"MP-14 and 15 are the multiprocessors for Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou respectively. It's the same with the power cells. Juusan-gou's ports are designed specifically to take the processors and power units from the other two Jinzouningen," Marron said. She wasn't sure why yet but the discovery was making a sick pool of dread form in her stomach. "Based on where those processors and power cells are you'd have to tear the other two apart to get at them."

"Or destroy them," Bulma said slowly, her mind working over the same train of thought.

"So…if Juusan-gou gets an upgrade at the expense of the other two…" Marron said slowly, "then what does that mean?" Bulma shook her head.

"It means he's a last resort."

Marron and Bulma's heads both swiveled up to hear Yamucha's voice from the doorway. He stood there with his hands clasped on his cane, his expression grave despite his dark glasses.

"Remember Bulma…all the Jinzouningen have a self destruct. Cell used it. You removed it from Juuroku-gou or he would have used it," Yamucha pointed out. Bulma looked back over the plans hurriedly.

"I don't see any specific self destruct here! Not like on Juuroku-gou at all!" Bulma scowled, angry she could have overlooked such an obvious function. Marron was looking as white as a sheet.

"We have to stop them," Marron whispered, cutting into Bulma's tirade. "We can't let Trunks and the others destroy Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou! We don't know what that upgrade does!" Marron cried, her voice rising. "If he IS a bomb…with _three_ of those power cells…who knows what kind of damage he could do to the planet? Not to mention anyone near him… and that means Trunks!" Marron stood hurriedly heading for the door, pulling her blue CC jacket on over her pink shirt.

"Marron-chan? Where are you going?" Bulma asked.

"To warn them," Marron tossed over her shoulder, until she came up against Yamucha who was still standing in the doorway. "Don't you try to stop me this time," Marron warned him. Yamucha stood there silently, his face impassive.

"No, not this time. He needs you, but don't go alone, take Chaozu with you," Yamucha reached into his pocket, pulling out a small brown bag and handed it to her. "Senzu…I got them from Karin this morning. They might need them." Impulsively, Marron threw her arms around the older man, giving him a brisk hug and whispered thanks before running out into the bright light of the Tenka Courtyard. Chaozu was already waiting for her, standing with Mr. Popo and Dende.

"We need to—" she started, but the ageless former Emperor simply shook his head. Smiling gently at her as Little Trunks and Goten ran up to see what the fuss was about.

"No need. I already know. We're wasting time," Chaozu said, lifting off the ground to head toward the planet below. With a quick nod Marron followed. Ignoring the younger boy's eager questions of where she was going

"How fast can you fly?" she asked Chaozu, and then before he could answer caught him around the waist, tucking the little psychic under her arm like a football before she put on a burst of speed, blasting over the side of the Tenka toward the Earth in a streak.

"Wow!" Little Trunks yelled, running to the edge of the Tenka to look down, Goten on his heels. "She's FAST!" he said admiringly, watching the vapor trail she left behind dissipate. Goten nodded his head eagerly at his best friend and then waved.

_"Gambatte yo! _Marron-san! Chaozu-san!" he called after them, even though they were long gone.

* * *

Thirty miles to the west of Pepper Town all was quiet and still, not a sound or trace of the destruction and subsequent battle that roamed over the remains of the once bustling city. The rural residents of the farming community had no idea what was happening in their city center. To them it was merely another idyllic summer day. To someone with enhanced perception it was an unobtrusive ringside seat to the action.

Perched upon a boulder on a hill overlooking the valley to the east, Juuhachi-gou monitored the fight with interest. She sat as still as a statue, only the wind ruffling her razor cut bobbed hair. Her china blue eyes fixed on the horizon.

_They were losing._

Juuyon-gou was already down, the hulking android split in two at last by the one with the unfamiliar power wielding a sword. Juuhachi-gou was apathetic to her brethren's demise. She had formed no opinion of the gray skinned android in the years he had been with them. He was just simply there.

"And now he is not," she murmured to herself. Startling several nearby squirrels that had ventured close to her, lulled into security by her stillness. Her eyes flicked to them momentarily, her expression softening. Squirrels, and birds especially, always brought Juuroku-gou to mind; and the way the huge android, despite being created to destroy life, had cherished it instead. She missed him. Juuyon-gou had been a poor substitute for she and Juunana-gou's former companion. She often wondered what had happened to Juuroku-gou…whether he had been finished off by one of the Z-Warriors, or if Cell had done the job himself after he absorbed her. Perhaps she should ask one of them if they knew someday.

She lifted her head back toward the battle in the east, a tremor moving across her impassive face as she monitored the details of Juugo-gou's fight with Kuririn. This battle wouldn't be as clearly decided as the previous one. Kuririn and the little purple skinned android were evenly matched, in power as well as size. The corners of her mouth turned up in the faintest ghost of a smile when she sensed Kuririn going on the offensive, sending a barrage of those pesky energy disks of his slicing through the air after Juugo-gou. He was really keeping the android on his toes. Juuhachi-gou couldn't help but be mildly impressed. Who would ever have suspected that the small, funny looking, bald headed human would be able to not only hold his own against one of the Jinzouningen, but to actually gain the upper hand. There was more to the little shrimp than met the eye, that was for certain. Although she would never admit it aloud, she rather hoped that Kuririn would win.

She at last turned her attention to the reason she had come to monitor the activity in Pepper Town in the first place. Juusan-gou. She hadn't liked that smirk of his when he'd left to do her brother's bidding. She could tell that he still had the upper hand in the fight against the half-Saiyajin; Son Gohan. Wouldn't it just figure? The two androids she could tolerate were rapidly being destroyed, and the one she despised was winning.

Juuhachi-gou sighed softly. Recently she had found herself secretly wishing every time Juunana-gou sent them off to destroy something that they wouldn't come back. That Kuririn and Son Gohan would finally finish those three off, and she could leave Juunana-gou to his childish games. Or better yet, convince her brother to just live in peace with her. Away from any insipid humans certainly, it was a big planet, there was room enough for everyone. There was no need for the destruction her brother delighted in. Being absorbed by Cell had been a humbling experience for her, one she had reflected upon many times over the last five years, but it had angered Juunana-gou to no end. He was still burning and fuming that Gero had made another Jinzouningen, an ultimate creation that was stronger than they were, he just couldn't let it go.

A low rumble like thunder brought her out of her reverie. The power readings from Pepper Town were increasing dramatically. It seemed that the teenager, Son Gohan was powering up tremendously, as was the stranger. Another half-Saiyajin it seemed. How interesting, she wondered where he had come from? Perhaps her hope of the other Jinzouningen being eliminated would come to pass, and she leaned forward on the boulder in anticipation. She stood and turned to the west with an abrupt motion however, as another power registered with her long-range sensors. It was approaching the battle in a beeline and moving fast.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she focused her sensors on the approaching fighter, then widened in disbelief. Lifting off the ground Juuhachi-gou hung in the air directly in the flight path of the oncoming person. If what her sensors led her to believe was true, Juuhachi-gou wanted answers.

A twinkle of light was the only visible indication of the fighters approach at first, then the growing jet-engine roar of bukujutsu. Whoever it was, they were using ki to fly. Juuhachi-gou frowned, as the tiny figure quickly grew larger and then pulled up short to avoid barreling into her. There were actually two of them. One she had seen once before, the tiny psychic was of no concern to her and she ignored him as her eyes roamed over the other. Taking in the worn jeans, pink top, blue Capsule Corporation jacket, and long blonde hair before moving up to the girl's face.

To find her own face looking back at her.


	7. Battle on

Forcing herself to keep her posture relaxed, Marron warily faced the woman who in another time had borne her. She let go of Chaozu, letting the former emperor hover beside her under his own power. Subtly, she slipped the small bag of senzu from her pocket and pressed it into Chaozu's hand, holding Juuhachi-gou's gaze and hoping she wouldn't notice the action. Luckily, the blonde Jinzouningen's attention seemed to be riveted on her face.

Marron tried to keep the gamut of emotions roiling through her from showing on her face, and she schooled her expression into a mirror of her mother's. On one hand she wanted to throw her arms around the woman, overjoyed to see her mother alive again. Yet on the other hand, she knew this wasn't her mother. This woman was what Trunks had hated and feared…a killer. She'd do well to stay on her guard.

*_What do you want to do, Marron-san?* _Marron heard the soft voice of Chaozu in her mind. Despite her feelings, she had a mission to accomplish, to warn Trunks not to destroy Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou, she couldn't let herself get distracted.

_*Let's go around if we can. If not, you try to get to Trunks-tachi and warn them. I'll distract her* _

Slowly, Marron and Chaozu drifted farther apart, trying to slide around the motionless Juuhachi-gou. Juuhachi-gou's eyes tracked her movements, just as Marron suspected they would. Not paying a bit of mind to Chaozu.

"Not Jinzouningen. I'm sure of it now. Who the hell are you then?" Juuhachi-gou asked finally, her eyes narrowing as she moved into Marron's path, blocking her way. Marron took a steady breath, trying to decide how best to handle the situation. Unconsciously, she reached up and tucked a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear. She could see Chaozu still edging farther around Juuhachi-gou, trying to get in the clear and make a break for the east to reach Trunks. Marron made another attempt to go around and again found herself face to face with Juuhachi-gou.

"Please move. I don't want to have to hurt you," Marron said quietly. Never mind that she had never once beaten her mother in a spar, Marron was bluffing for all she was worth. Giving Chaozu an opportunity to get away. Juuhachi-gou folded her arms across her chest and regarded Marron stonily.

"Oh, I'd love to see you try," she said icily. "Now I asked you a question and I expect an answer. Who are you? Why do you look like me?" Marron shifted uncomfortably and said nothing. Juuhachi-gou unfolded her arms and raised them in an all to familiar stance as she hovered before Marron. "I'm not going to ask again. I'll just start beating it out of you," The blonde Jinzouningen told her matter of factly. Marron's eyes again flicked to Chaozu. The little psychic was almost enough in the clear to make a break for it, if only Marron could keep Juuhachi-gou's attention. _No problem there_, Marron thought to herself, smirking inwardly.

"I could tell you, " Marron said, raising her chin subtly and fixing her other world mother with a similarly icy gaze. "But you'd never believe me."

"Try me."

Marron tilted her head slightly to the side as she regarded the woman in front of her, her heart pulling her in two directions. She ached inside to look at this woman -her mother under different circumstances- so soon after losing her own. She reminded Marron so sharply of how her mother had looked when she was a child; the same razor cut bob, the same style of clothes she wore. She longed to trust the blonde Jinzouningen, to reach out to her. To take the risk that _this_ Juuhachi-gou was more like her own mother, rather than the cold emotionless killing machine of Trunks' time. At her silence, Juuhachi-gou raised a hand and half turned her body, facing her palm toward Chaozu, even as her eyes never left Marron's. She fired a quick blast of energy that barely missed the little emperor. Chaozu hung frozen in the air, afraid to move.

"We can do this the easy way, or the hard way…" Juuhachi-gou said with a smirk, letting her know she had noticed Chaozu's bid to move around her. "Next time I won't miss."

_Oh Trunks…you were right,_ Marron thought miserably._ She's not my mother…she's like the other one. _

"Let him go and I will."

"I don't make deals," Juuhachi-gou snapped, her eyebrows drawn down in a frown.

Before Juuhachi-gou could anticipate the move, Marron shot up and away from the Jinzouningen and Chaozu in a burst of speed as she took off toward the east, away from Pepper Town. _Kami, I hope this works! _She thought desperately, hoping that Juuhachi-gou would take the bait and follow her away from the others to get her answers. When she was several miles away she risked a look back, to see Juuhachi-gou right behind her and closing fast.

The Jinzouningen didn't look pleased.

* * *

The world was pain. Every joint, every muscle… He couldn't remember the last time he'd hurt so badly, wanting nothing more than to curl into a ball in the pile of rubble he lay in and let sweet oblivion take him. For a second the world grayed around him, and he forced himself to shake it off. He may wish that he could just lie down and give in to fatigue, to pain, but he would never do it. He was Son Gohan, the son of Son Gokou…he was better than that.

"I'm disappointed I have to admit. I expected better things from you…based on your lineage," The deep mocking voice of Juusan-gou pulled Gohan back from the edge of unconsciousness. The half-Saiyajin teenager bared his teeth at the white haired android and slowly pulled himself out of the crater he'd just formed with his own back.

"What do you know about anything?" Gohan snapped, turning his head to the side to spit out a mouthful of blood. "You're just a hunk of junk waiting to happen."

Juusan-gou sneered, watching patiently as the dark haired teen regained his balance. His orange dogi was ripped and muddy, and he was bleeding in several places. Juusan-gou was especially intrigued to note that the boy was favoring his left arm a bit and his sneer twisted into a smile, malicious and cold.

"What's the matter, boy? That old injury from Brother Cell paining you?" Juusan-gou drawled. Gohan bared his teeth.

"Nothing I can't HANDLE!" he punctuated with a thrust of his right hand. White-hot ki shot forth from his palm and enveloped the half leveled building Juusan-gou had been standing on. Gohan half turned his face away from the flying debris thrown out by the shockwave of his ki collapsing on itself and detonating. He peered through the dust looking for any sign of the android, but saw none. _It couldn't be that easy_, he thought and stiffened a heartbeat before he heard the low voice speaking in his ear, so close if Juusan-gou had had breath he would have felt it against his neck.

"Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy…" he chided. Ramming his fist into the base of Gohan's spine and sending the teenager flying into the melee of settling dust and debris from his last attack. Gohan slammed face first into a parked car, remarkably untouched by the destruction up until that point, deeply denting the hood and setting off the alarm to shrill stridently, drilling into Gohan's ears. It was the piercing wail that kept him from losing consciousness and he levered himself out of the Gohan shaped dent in the car slowly.

"Gohan!" Gohan swiveled his head up at his name and saw Trunks a short distance away. Just sheathing his sword as he crouched menacingly over the sparking exploded remains of Juuyon-gou. He powered down as he rose gracefully, the foot long gold spikes of his hair returning to lavender as they fell. "Need any help?" Trunks asked him, his eyes never leaving Juusan-gou. Gohan shook his head no. Juusan-gou chuckled nastily.

"I'd take the offer if I were you, boy. Ain't no way you gonna beat me on your own, and you know it," Juusan-gou told him, folding his arms across his broad chest casually.

Gohan's spine stiffened at the insult, the pain eclipsed by rage and he clenched his fists hard enough to crack his knuckles. He could feel it building in him, that same rage he feared, and with it the power. With a scream he let the power go, just enough to transform back into Super Saiyajin. His aura cracked and burned over the many cuts and scrapes on his body -needling him-– just irritating enough to balance his anger and he lowered his head to glare at Juusan-gou with pupiless teal eyes.

Juusan-gou smiled broadly at him. "The brat's starting to get serious," he sneered. Gohan's lips curled in a similar expression.

"I'm not starting. I'm finishing with you," Gohan told him. Juusan-gou made a beckoning motion with one hand before refolding his arms.

"Bring it then."

* * *

Marron was starting to tire. She couldn't keep flying at near sonic speeds indefinitely, and she'd already flown twice as far away from Pepper Town as she'd come from the Tenka, the whole way sensing Juuhachi-gou was still hot on her heels. How stupid to forget that her mother -no, the _Jinzouningen_, that woman wasn't her mother-– didn't expend ki to fly. She'd need to think of something else, and fast.

Marron swiped her arm over her sweating brow briefly. She hoped that Chaozu had been able to reach Trunks-tachi in time; otherwise this was going to end up an exercise in futility, a potentially painful one. She risked a look behind her by looking under her arm, like a swimmer would, expecting to see the blonde Jinzouningen breathing down her neck, but the sky behind her was empty.

"Whaaat?" she breathed dumbfounded, the air escaping her lips in a long exhale. She faltered and slowed, twisting in the air to scan the horizon behind her. _When had she lost Juuhachi-gou? _She barely had time to wonder before motion caught the corner of her eye. A split second later a hand closed around her ankle like a manacle. She didn't even have time to gasp before the world spun crazily and she was swung around by her foot and sent hurtling toward the ground at high speed.

She righted herself in the air so she'd impact feet -rather than head- first, but it was still going to hurt. She couldn't get enough ki under her quick enough to totally cushion the impact and she slammed into the ground with bone-jarring force, burying her legs in the relatively soft soil nearly to her knees.

"Tag. You're it," she heard the dry inflectionless voice of Juuhachi-gou say from above her.

Marron gritted her teeth, levitating herself out of the twin craters of her crash. Her legs throbbed and burned, if she hadn't gotten some ki under her she'd probably be sporting two badly broken legs about now, if not more. Her legs wobbled as she landed lightly on the ground and she nearly went to her knees. Not good, if Juuhachi-gou could hurt her this badly already. In her own defense she _had_ just flown at top speeds nearly halfway around the world, _and _already had the stuffing beaten out of her by Trunks when they'd sparred that morning. But still, it didn't bode well for her chances of holding her own against the android. She raised her head to look defiantly at the Jinzouningen hovering in the air above her, hands planted on her slender hips as she glared down at Marron, effectively cutting off her escape route if she chose to try to run again.

Slowly, the blonde android lowered herself to the ground, maintaining the same posture as she faced Marron. "Let's try this again," she said in a deceptively neutral tone. But Marron knew her world's Juuhachi-gou to read even the tiniest inflection in her voice, and she could tell…she was angry. Not good. Juuhachi-gou brushed her windblown hair back out of her eyes with an impatient gesture, tucking it behind her ear before continuing. "Who are you?"

Marron bent slightly at the waist, brushing the dirt from her jeans as she fought to keep her composure, her mind racing. She straightened and unconsciously mimicked her mother's gesture, tucking her long blonde hair – so like the other woman's – behind a shell shaped ear. Juuhachi-gou's eyes narrowed as she noted the similarity of their movements.

"I'm Marron," she replied simply.

And then suddenly found herself sprawled on her back in the dirt a few meters away from where she'd just stood. She hadn't even seen Juuhachi-gou move before her fist connected with her jaw, sending her flying. She sat up shakily and rubbed her jaw experimentally, wincing. She was going to be all kinds of colorfully bruised tomorrow, that was for sure…if she lived that long. Taking her time, Marron got back on her feet, not meeting the Jinzouningen's eyes.

"If you want to taste the ground again, then by all means, keep being cute," Juuhachi-gou told her.

Marron wiped away a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth. What had she gotten herself into? Juuhachi-gou had only attacked her twice, and not even very seriously either, and she was already in a world of hurt. Her own mother had never hit her that hard when they had sparred, was this Juuhachi-gou just that much stronger? Or had her mother always been holding that much back? Marron's heart pumped frantically. Trunks had been right; the Jinzouningen would show her no mercy when they fought. And despite her confidence in her skills and natural speed, she was no match for them whatsoever.

And she'd purposefully led Juuhachi-gou into a fight _away_ from the only person who could possibly help her. Then again, knowing Trunks' feelings about the Jinzouningen, he'd probably have destroyed Juuhachi-gou on sight, just on principle. She wondered…could she appeal to Juuhachi-gou's softer side? She had to have one in there somewhere, Marron thought; she was after all fundamentally the same person as the Juuhachi-gou that had borne her. It couldn't hurt to try.

"I'm not being cute. My name is Marron, but I'm not from this time. I came in a time machine from twenty-eight years in the future with my…" she hesitated on what to call Trunks. Lover? Friend? Fiancé? "My companion, Trunks. We ended up in this time by accident, I assure you."

Juuhachi-gou walked toward her slowly, arms akimbo as she studied Marron narrowly. "Do I look that stupid?" she asked, each word dropping like a stone into a bucket. Marron raised her hands in a supplicating gesture.

"No! I know it sounds improbable, but please, just hear me out," Marron said. Her words cut off when Juuhachi-gou's hand shot out and grabbed her by the chin, holding her prisoner as Juuhachi-gou studied her closely, her slanted ice blue eyes moving over her face slowly.

"All right, Future Girl," Juuhachi-gou said in a low voice, "explain the resemblance then. Why do you look so much like me, and yet…there's something…not quite the same," The android trailed off, turning Marron's face this way and that. The Jinzouningen's strong fingers dug into the tender part of Marron's jaw where Juuhachi-gou had just punched her, making Marron's teeth clench in pain.

"Well…" Marron started, stalling for all she was worth. "See, that's where things get a little tricky."

"My patience with your little game is not infinite. I don't want to know THAT bad," Juuhachi-gou threatened her, giving her a little shake that to Marron felt like a close cousin to whiplash before letting go of her face. Marron stumbled back, off balance and brought her hand to her jaw. Probing it tenderly. She looked at Juuhachi-gou accusingly, how could this woman be so different? It defied logic…had her mother truly been the exception? And not the rule?

"The reason we look alike is because you are my mother. At least, the Juuhachi-gou of my time was my mother," Marron confessed. Juuhachi-gou looked nonplussed.

"You don't say?" the Jinzouningen replied dryly, cupping her elbows in her hands as she shifted her weight slightly. One hip cocked. "And who, pray tell, might your father be? Another Jinzouningen?" she asked with an ironic smile, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"No, my father was human. He was part of the Z-Warriors and the bravest man I've ever known," Marron said proudly, her chin rising defiantly. Juuhachi-gou stood as still as stone, it was almost as though she had been carved of it. The breeze lifted her razor cut hair and ruffled her sleeves, but her body was motionless, like a snake coiled to strike.

"Name," she demanded, that one word command uttering from her lips without disrupting the stillness of her countenance. Marron swallowed, licking her lips nervously. There was danger ahead; she could sense it, like walking in a minefield.

"My father's name was Kuririn."

Juuhachi-gou exploded into motion, so fast Marron barely had time to register it and no time to evade. "Lies!" Juuhachi-gou spat, her punches raining hard to Marron's midsection and face. Marron blocked some of them, but Juuhachi-gou was so fast! "Liar! My brother put you up to this didn't he?" the blonde android snarled, cocking back her fist to roundhouse punch her otherworld daughter right in her lying face.

Baring her own teeth, Marron caught the punch in both hands, holding Juuhachi-gou's fist captive, hoping to make the other woman listen to her. "I'm not lying!" Marron panted, blood trickling again from the corners of her mouth. "I AM your daughter! Look at me! Take a good long look at me and you'll know I'm telling you the truth. I was born to Kuririn and Juuhachi-gou in 771 A.D., the year after they were married, three years after Cell was destroyed." Marron told her. Juuhachi-gou's lips pulled back from her teeth in a silent snarl. Marron let go of her fist and quickly sprang back to a safer distance, taking a ready stance. She didn't intend to be caught off guard by her mother again.

"This has to be a trick, some sick childish joke Juunana-gou cooked up in that twisted little mind of his. I don't know what hole he dug you up out of, but I'm going to put you back in it. Permanently. Nobody makes a fool of me! To think…me…and that little bald…HUMAN!" Juuhachi-gou ground out through clenched teeth. Her hands fisted and raised. "It's inconceivable!"

"I can prove it…if you'll let me," Marron said quietly. Juuhachi-gou faltered, pulling herself up short, as she'd been about to launch herself at the lying blonde imposter again.

"How?" Juuhachi-gou exhaled.

Her eyes never leaving Juuhachi-gou's, Marron reached into her jacket pocket and took out the capsule with her belongings from the lab. The same container she'd unencapsulated earlier when she showed the picture to Kuririn. "When I showed this to my fath– to _Kuririn_ – yesterday…he had the same reaction," Marron told her, thumbing the trigger and tossing the capsule a short distance away where it exploded. Carefully, Marron moved toward it, treating her mother like a wild and dangerous animal, making no sudden moves. She fished out the picture and held the silver frame out to Juuhachi-gou, who watched her narrowly, but made no move to take it from her. "Go on…" Marron urged.

Slowly, Juuhachi-gou extended her hand and took the photograph from her. Marron watched avidly as the Jinzouningen's eyes fell to the photograph of Marron's family. She said nothing at first, just stared at the image so intently.

"He has hair," Juuhachi-gou said at last, not raising her eyes from her keen study of the photo. Marron smiled slightly.

"He told me once that he grew it just to please you, that you wanted him to do it. He did anything to make you happy," Marron said fondly, unable to keep the love for her late father from her voice. Juuhachi-gou's eyes flicked up to hers briefly before returning to the image.

"You…looked like him."

Marron nodded, "I didn't have much of a nose until I was nearly ten years old. And it wasn't until I hit puberty that I started growing to look more and more like you – I mean - _my_ mother," Marron corrected at Juuhachi-gou's pointed stare.

Juuhachi-gou looked the picture over again before extending her arm and handing the frame back to Marron. Marron took it from her and held it to her chest, folding her arms around the precious memory.

"Do you believe me now?" Marron asked quietly. The silence dragged out between them as Juuhachi-gou watched her, the wind lifting their identical hair to blow across their faces. At the same time they both reached to tuck their hair behind their ears, like looking in a mirror and they both stopped, hands poised. The absurdity of it on top of the stress made Marron giggle uncontrollably. The Jinzouningen simply quirked an eyebrow and completed the motion, before refolding her arms across her chest.

"I'll accept your story…for now," Juuhachi-gou told her. Relief flooded Marron's body and she relaxed at last. Not even picking up on the frostiness of the other woman's voice. Marron turned back to her container, putting the precious photograph back before encapsulating.

"I'm so glad. I was afraid that you wouldn't believe me, that Trunks was going to be right about…well, never mind what Trunks says. Now we can get back to the matter at hand, stopping Trunks-tachi from destroying Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou—" Marron's chatter stopped abruptly as Juuhachi-gou brought the side of her hand down sharply against the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious.

Juuhachi-gou looked down coldly at the unconscious woman at her feet, the capsule holding her belongings curled in her loose fingers. Holding her hand out before her, a ball of pinkish white energy formed in her palm. It was more than enough to destroy the deceiver in front of her, all she had to do was let it go. Kill the girl and go beat a confession out of her brother. By the time she was through with him she'd guarantee Juunana-gou wouldn't dare pull a stunt on her like this again.

She scowled as she looked at the young woman's face, almost the mirror of her own. How could Juunana-gou have found such a near copy? Unless… What if the strange young woman _was_ telling the truth? Could she, in some other time have actually had a child? And if she had, could she now kill her own daughter? Conflicted, Juuhachi-gou snapped her fist closed, reabsorbing the energy ball back into her body angrily. There was really only one way to find out the truth.

Bending over, she picked up the girl and slung her limp body over her shoulder. The capsule fell from Marron's lax hand and Juuhachi-gou absently picked it up and tucked it into her own pocket before taking to the air with her prisoner and heading for home.

* * *

Back in Pepper Town, Trunks' attention was divided between watching Gohan go on the offensive with Juusan-gou. And watching as Kuririn plagued the diminutive Juugo-gou with his Kienzan attack. He'd made a few improvements on it over the years too Trunks noticed, as he watched the former monk make elaborate arm gestures that turned the lethal energy disks into homing devices the purple skinned android couldn't shake.

Trunks' admiration grew as he watched Kuririn take the battle to the next level. Juugo-gou had no quarter from the now half dozen Kienzan that dogged his every move, and Trunks could see the strategy as Kuririn was cornering the purple-skinned android.

"You've got him now, Kuririn-san!" Trunks shouted in encouragement. Kuririn's response was a wild grin as he drew back his arms and added two more deadly energy disks to the mix. A quick glance in Gohan's direction found the half Saiyajin teenager more than holding his own for the time being.

*_Trunks-saaaannn!* _A soft gentle voice cried urgently in his mind. Trunks twisted in the direction he felt the insistent call coming from in time to see a glimmer of ki on the horizon as it winked into view. Frowning, Trunks watched as the small form of Chaozu approached, landing beside the demi-Saiyajin lightly. The expression on the former Emperor's face made his heart freeze; it was just this side of panic. Had something happened back at the Tenka?

"Chaozu-san! What is it?" Trunks demanded. Chaozu's eyes frantically scanned the scene in front of him as he tried to catch his breath. He didn't do well in extremely tense situations -he got flustered easily- and after the encounter he and Marron just had with the Jinzouningen, Chaozu was more than flustered. He was terrified for the young blonde who had so bravely led Juuhachi-gou away so that he could escape.

"Marron-san…" Chaozu gasped. Trunks' hands gripped the smaller man's shoulders tightly as he knelt before Chaozu, forcing him to look into his eyes.

"What about Marron? What happened?" Trunks asked urgently. Chaozu's eyes slid away from the intense blue of Trunks' and he caught sight of the scattered remains of Juuyon-gou a short distance away. Seeing the destroyed android forcibly brought the main purpose of his mission back to Chaozu's mind and he got a hold of himself. Meeting Trunks' gaze steadily. Chaozu knew in his heart if he told Trunks about Marron leading the Jinzouningen away that he would just go after her. And they needed him here. *_Gomen ne, Marron-san…please be safe._* Chaozu thought briefly and then spoke.

"Marron-san and Bulma-san, they found something strange about Juusan-gou's design. They said not to destroy the other two Jinzouningen," Chaozu told him. Trunks' frown intensified, and Chaozu was suddenly struck by just how much the young man resembled the late Saiyajin prince. Never more than when he was angry.

"What did they find?" Trunks asked, releasing the former Emperor's shoulders and rising. Chaozu nearly vibrated with urgency, wringing his small white hands together tightly.

"They aren't sure yet. But Marron-san…she said she thinks it might be a bomb…a big one."

* * *

Juusan-gou was not enjoying himself. Not even a little bit.

When had that annoying half-Saiyajin brat gotten so damned powerful? Where once Juusan-gou had clearly had the advantage, now the dark haired teen was meeting him attack for attack. And in several cases taking command of the battle and putting Juusan-gou on the defensive, something he despised. He was an offensive fighter, it was in his programming, but he also held the will of his creator, and Gero hated to lose.

His sensors ever attuned to what was happening around him, even if his focus was the fight with Gohan, Juusan-gou was all too aware of the plight Juugo-gou was in as the purple skinned android repeatedly evaded destruction by the narrowest of margins. He was also aware of the arrival of a new person to the scene; a small doll like man that his files told him was no real threat.

His attention momentarily diverted, Gohan took full advantage delivering a flurry of lightning fast punches to Juusan-gou's body that left the Jinzouningen no time to process how to counter the attack. His hands could only open and close spasmodically as he turned into the teenager's punching bag.

"For Tenshinhan! For Vegeta! For my mother!" Gohan was snarling into the androids face as he rained hard quick blows to Juusan-gou's torso. The Jinzouningen looked dazed, Gohan had never seen that kind of expression on any of the artificial humans before. He took it to mean the android was weakening, and he drew back his fist, gathering energy for what he hoped would be a killing blow. "This is for Piccolo you—"

Before Gohan could finish the insult and deliver the blow, Juusan-gou's expression sharpened, his ice blue eyes narrowing as he smirked. He brought his hands up to Gohan's chest and with a popping hum a brilliant red ball of energy formed in his palms. Gohan's expression of open-mouthed amazement was almost comical to the Jinzouningen. "Give it a rest, son, willya?" Juusan-gou drawled and let the ball go. Watching with satisfaction as it pushed the dark haired teen away from him. Gohan's scream of fury and defeat was music to his ears as he watched Gohan and the energy ball connect with the ground and explode.

As he hovered in the air, his internals diagnosing and repairing the damage that Gohan had done to him, Juusan-gou watched as the Son boy's friends called his name and rushed to where their friend had met his end. Juusan-gou's smile widened when he saw Gohan's limp form uncovered by the rubble that had fallen in on him. As Juusan-gou watched, the small doll like man crouched by Gohan's head and pulled out a small bag. The big Jinzouningen scoffed, it was too late for medicine, that boy was done for.

Now all he had to do was find Son Goten and destroy him, a trivial task he figured, considering the boy was only five years old. He levitated to the ground slowly, arms folded on his chest. The more powerful of the two fighters still remaining, the one with the long purple hair and the sword, rose slowly from where he had been kneeling beside the prone teenager. The expression of rage on his face reminded Juusan-gou of someone else. The other one, the bald headed monk of Juuhachi-gou's, was right at purple-haired one's side, his expression no less furious than the other's.

"One Son down, one to go," Juusan-gou told the two men glibly.

The metallic _shriiing _of a sword clearing the scabbard was unnaturally loud in sudden stillness of the afternoon. "Not if I have anything to say about it," the purple haired man said in a low deadly voice.

"Or me," the monk Kuririn chimed in.

"Or me…" Son Gohan said, pulling himself up from where he had been lying as still as death only moments before. "Don't count me out just yet."

Juusan-gou bared his teeth in frustration. These Saiyajin's were tougher to kill than he'd imagined. He'd always thought of Cell as a failure, considering the lengths he'd had to go to destroy Son Gokou. Now he wasn't so sure. They were tougher than cockroaches. He knew that blast should have had more than enough energy to kill the boy, or at least keep him down for quite a while. Now he stood with the other two, good as new. Quickly, Juusan-gou did a scan, looking for Juugo-gou to come and back him up, but the diminutive android was gone.

"If you're looking for your buddy, I just took care of him. Now YOU get to know what it's like to be ganged up on," Kuririn crowed, poking his thumb to his chest. The doll like man and the one with the sword cringed.

"_Baka…_" the purple haired one hissed under his breath. Kuririn gulped and clapped his hands over his mouth.

"Whoops! Sorry, Trunks…" Kuririn muttered.

Juusan-gou lowered his head a moment, mostly to cover up the exhalant and triumphant grin that had taken over his normally narrow and stern looking countenance. Juuyon-gou and Juugo-gou were destroyed, how much more perfect could his day get? He threw back his head and bellowed with laughter, which only made the men in front of him angrier he was sure.

"I'd like to thank you boys for doing me a favor," Juusan-gou told them with nasty grin, his eyes flashing red a moment as the subroutine programmed within him initialized, the failsafe that would ensure that Dr. Gero's vision became a reality. From four locations around the nearby ruins, the CPU's and power cells from the remains of the two destroyed Jinzouningen responded to the same subroutine, tearing themselves free of the wires and connections to rise into the air and speed toward Juusan-gou like they were magnetized.

Trunks took a swing at one of the power cells with his sword as it sailed past his head, close enough to part his hair. The backwash of air blew Trunks' hair into his eyes and he missed slicing the power cell in two by a hairsbreadth. The tip of his sword scored the metal housing of the power cell's end and severed many of wires that trailed behind it like a banner.

"_Kusooo…_" Trunks snarled, and could only watch helplessly with Kuririn, Gohan, and Chaozu as the four components reached their destination. Juusan-gou held his vest open and to the amazement of the remaining fighters the two power cells aligned themselves with the androids pectoral muscles and seemed to sink into his skin. The two small CPU chips slid into Juusan-gou's temples as though his skin were nothing more than soft butter.

"That's just…perfect," Juusan-gou laughed as the additional components were assimilated, and his final function initialized. Dormant power supplies he hadn't even been aware of activated, flooding his body with so much energy he had to expand his mass to contain it all. His vest shredded itself as he nearly doubled in size. Even as his processors were tied up with his transformation, Juusan-gou still enjoyed the shocked and horrified looks on the faces of the four men before him.

"I think now would be a really good time to leave," Kuririn said worriedly, backing slowly away from the Jinzouningen before him.

Juusan-gou gritted his teeth against the exertion as his body size increased again, his synthetic muscles expanding to a gross parody of anatomy. His hair stood straight on end and stayed that way changing from white to orange, his skin darkening to blue. His transformation was nearly complete. He looked up at the four men before him with his old eyes, moments before the yellow solarized lenses replaced them. His data stream enhanced. He couldn't wait to try out his new upgrades.

The purple haired one called Trunks was looking to be his first volunteer as he stepped forward, that look of murderous fury that reminded Juusan-gou of that pointy haired Saiyajin he'd killed back on his face. With a scream of fury he powered up, his long hair stiffening into yellow white spikes that surrounded his head like a corona as his ki enveloped him in light.

"Trunks-san, no! Remember what Marron-san said!" the small white-faced man called urgently.

"Doesn't matter. It's just another disgusting android," Trunks growled, pushing off the ground as he drew his sword back. Juusan-gou dodged the first downward slash and blasted Trunks in the chest, not even that seriously, but it sent the Super Saiyajin flying back toward his friends who scattered like chickens to get out of the way. He heard the loud crash of Trunks impacting with the remains of several buildings.

"Oh that's gotta hurt. I guess I don't know my own strength," Juusan-gou told them. His voice had deepened to a rough growl that sounded foreign to his own audio receptors. He waited for Trunks to get up and attack him again, but it seemed he'd taken out the Saiyajin with one blast.

"Now would be an even better time to get the hell out of here," Kuririn said.

Juusan-gou grinned at them. With his new power they were no match for him. He could take out Son Gohan and his little brother any time he wanted. Right now what he wanted was to test the full limits of his new capabilities, there was only one fight he was truly looking forward too. This bunch in front of him could wait.

"Run along boys. I'll give you a reprieve for now, since I have other pressing business. But you'd best settle your affairs," Juusan-gou told them pointing at Gohan, "because I'll be coming for you. _And_ your little brother."


End file.
